The Heavens Will Be Shattered
by Trainkrazy
Summary: Simon, a young man born and raised in a small underground village dreams for a better life. One of adventure and excitement. He and his brother Kamina seek a new world outside the confined boundaries of Jeeha, a place that would fulfill their burning desire. With their eyes set on the heavens, the two are willing to overcome any obstacle, even hell itself, to achieve this goal.
1. Chapter 1: Jeeha

**Hey, you! Yeah you, the reader! Read this real quick before you begin! :D**

**A/N: It would seem that many of you readers, no offense, drop off after the first chapter, the view graph shows this. I know that there must be a reason for this and if you could tell me what made you not want to read it would really help! Thank you!**

* * *

_Umm hello, my name is Simon; I live in a small village underground named Jeeha._

_I am a digger, working to expand the village by drilling tunnels. The chief gives me pigmole steaks because of my fine work, I also get the chance to find hidden objects, treasure if you will._

_I don't have many friends here, besides my bro, Kamina. Its not that I can't make friends, I don't really see any benefits of having friends in the village, all I need to get done is the digging that I have been assigned._

Simon continued to drill through the already spacious tunnel, making plenty of room for a large man to move around without too much trouble. He was of average build and not much shorter than most boys his age. He had never known anything besides digging in the sixteen years he had been underground, it had made him stronger and gave him something to do.

His drill suddenly stopped on some mysterious object jutting out of the earth. He quickly dug up the small piece; it glowed dimly in the dark tunnel.

_Hmm, what is it this time? _He looked down at the item; it was a drill that fit easily in the palm of his hand.

_A drill? I wonder how it got down here?_ He always wondered these sorts of things when he dug up treasure, where it came from or how it was made.

He shrugged and put the small drill in his pocket with the thoughts of its origin still clouding his mind. As a driller, he was quite luck, having the uncanny knack of finding unique things when he dug past his hours, which ironically was his favorite time to dig.

He made his way back down the tunnels and to the main level of the village. He messed with a piece of leather trying to get it to loop into the small hole at the base of the drill; it was proving to be a formidable opponent.

He walked aimlessly, it didn't really matter when he got back to his living space, but he ran into someone since he wasn't watching where he was going. Simon looked up to see his brother Kamina, wearing his signature glasses.

"What do you have there Simon, another piece of treasure?" Kamina looked down on the object with interest.

Simon held it up proudly, "Yup, just found it in the tunnels. What do you think?" He had finally got the leather through the loop.

"Pretty fitting of you, make sure to keep it close. You can never be too sure when these losers will take some of your treasure."

Simon shrugged, "I guess."

Kamina grinned, in a strange psychotic sort of way, "You ready to go?"

Simon looked at his brother with surprise, "Is it time already?"

Kamina gave an affirmative nod, "Everything is ready, we just need you to lead the charge."

Simon brandished his drill, "Alright, lets do this."

* * *

Pigmoles blasted from their confined prison towards the top of the village, storming this way and that effectively scaring all of the citizens. They charged upwards, getting closer to the ceiling with every level. Kamina was on the back of the lead shouting like a madman and laughing like one too.

"Fly piggies! Fly!" The two swarms of pigmoles slammed together and created a pillar, raising Simon and Kamina up towards the waiting ceiling.

A figure approached, leaning over the topmost platform, it was the chief of the village.

"Kamina, not you again!" The chief stood directly in front of the pillar of pigmoles, readying his weapon.

"You best step aside!" The pigmoles continued their charge towards the surface.

"You idiot!" The chief swung his katana at the group, knocking them down back towards the main level. They were in no place to stop him, so the two brothers fell back down and waited for their punishment.

_Damn chief, always getting in the way._ Simon glared at the fat man.

* * *

"What did you two think you were doing?" The chief spat on Kamina.

"We were going to the surface, the one that my father made it to when I was a kid." Kamina stared down the chief, not even fazed.

_I'll hand it to bro, he can be a badass when he wants to be._

"Why didn't you just go with him smart guy?" The chief smirked at the young man.

Simon was surprised at the chief's behavior, he usually was very gruff, but he never blew up at one of the villagers like this.

"We both did it chief, we're both responsible." Simon looked at the chief with frustration, considering he assumed that it was only Kamina that wanted to reach the surface.

"What?" The chief was surprised that the usually quiet digger piped up and this was because he didn't speak unless he had to.

"The surface is where we can have no fear of the ceiling falling in on us, where we don't have to worry about the quakes day after day. I don't think anyone here would want to suffer the same fate as my mom and dad."

Simon hadn't ever understood why so many of them feared the world above. To him and his blood brother it had always been a topic of interest, but no one else ever even brought it up.

The chief sighed, "I understand what you are saying, Simon, but you guys simply can't go up there."

This, in turn, attracted Kamina's attention, "Why, what's wrong with the surface?"

The chief huffed, "Dangers you boys won't understand."

Simon couldn't believe the mood swings that the chief was exhibiting.

"Go get some rest, I've had enough excitement for one night." He seemed rather tired from the whole ordeal.

Before Kamina could get out another word the digger poked him, "Another day bro, another day."

Kamina nodded, although he still seemed frustrated, thanking his coolheaded brother as they heading towards their home.

Even though they weren't brothers by birth, they still were brothers by bond. Simon's parents had died when a tunnel collapsed in on them; he was powerless to save them. Since then he had always stayed his adopted brother, who took him in without a problem, raised him to never fear, to shoot for the heavens and kick logic to the curb when obstacles stood in his way. He childhood a little theatrical, but he enjoyed it.

Kamina plopped down on his bed and sighed, "We'll get them tomorrow, count on it." He smiled at Simon and then quickly fell asleep.

_Always so full of energy…_

The digger wouldn't sleep this night, when they had gotten so close to the ceiling it filled him with fire, they were so close. The only way he knew how to relieve this of it was to dig some tunnels and so he did.

It didn't take long to choose a spot not too far from the house and then he began to dig. He usually dug downwards in a spiral; this allowed him to be able to get back up quickly, not having to climb as much.

By his watch's time he could tell it was already long past curfew, but he didn't care. He kept digging and digging, down into the deep, until he hit something.

_Twice in one day? How odd._

His drill had struck something hard, not any kind of rock that he knew of, it was metal based on the sound it created. He hastily dug out the area around it to see something very strange and awesome at the same time. It was a face, a large face buried underground.

_Wait until Kamina sees this!_ He made sure that the entire area was dug out before he made his way back up.

* * *

As he popped out of the hole a tremor struck the village, a very large one at that. It shook the chamber with the force of an explosion.

_They usually aren't this harsh._ Simon looked up at the ceiling with worry, afraid that it would collapse onto the settlement below. He quickly ran home, watching the ceiling the entire time.

"Bro, wake up!" He yelled at the sleeping Kamina.

The cyan haired man quickly sat up in bed, it surprised Simon that he could've stayed asleep after the tremor.

"What is it Simon." Kamina was immediately alert; he knew that Simon wouldn't have woken him up without a purpose.

"These tremors are more powerful than ever before, I don't think you should be sleeping."

Just as Simon finished his sentence, another quake struck the village, this time fracturing the ceiling. _What the hell?_ Simon looked up, waiting for the inevitable to happen.

Beams of light filtered through the small cracks and grew as the weight became even greater, until it finally collapsed. A large white object broke down through the ceiling and down to the bottom level.

"What is that?" Kamina looked at the creature in admiration, he had never seen something like this before.

"I don't know, but I don't' like it." Simon could feel nervousness twist his stomach, but he kept it to the back of his mind wanting to be ready for anything.

"Lets go down and get a closer look!" Kamina was out of bed immediately and running down the hallway.

_Way to rush into things bro…_ Simon began pursuing his brother.

By the time they had made it to the ground level they could see it. It had an extremely large face, but was extremely ugly, like a demented pigmole.

"That thing gives me the chills." Kamina looked at his opponent with bravado. He jumped down in front of it to get a good look at its face.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! You think you can just plow into my village and not expect a fight?"

Simon could see the chief cowering in the rubble; he rushed over there and reached out his hand. "We're going to need your sword."

The chief threw it to him and looked away from the monster.

"Bro!" Simon tossed the katana to Kamina.

Kamina drew the sword from the sheath and pointed it at the beast. "Just who the hell do you think I am?!"

The creature's eyes locked onto him. Its voice was shrill and strange. "Well, what the hell are you?"

Kamina scoffed, "I am none other than the great Kamina, the demon leader of Team Gurren!"

Even Simon could tell the creature was confused at his brother's words, but it did inspire the digger a little bit.

The creature raised its club, preparing to strike the two, but they held their ground.

Just as it was about to swing at them, something knocked the hand away, causing the strike to miss. Several more shots followed, knocking the club from its claws. What came after surprised Simon even more than the creature.

It was a girl, looking to be about the same age as himself, wearing none other than alarming short shorts, bright pink leggings, and a flame covered bra. She wielded some strange looking weapon that was long and dark.

She landed directly in front of them.

"Get back you two!" She pulled a lever on the weapon, releasing a small cylinder.

"Who are you?" Kamina looked at the girl with surprise.

The beast grabbed its club and made ready to attack again.

"Seriously get back!" She lunged at the two, knocking them just out of the way of the club. She ended up landing right on Simon; he breasts pushed up against his chest.

The girl however didn't seem bothered by this, she simply jumped back up with her weapon in hand and fired once again at the beast.

Simon thought of what he found. _Perhaps we can use that against this thing?_

The digger yelled at the two, "Follow me guys, I have a plan!"

Kamina and the mysterious girl looked at him with surprise, but ran after him nonetheless.

Simon quickly guided them through the rubble to his digging hole, "Its in here."

* * *

The creature was in a rampage up above, shouting random words as it tried to find its prey, but they were already far below.

Eventually the three came to the end of the tunnel where the face was sitting. "This is it."

The girl looked at it in astonishment, "How is a gunman all the way down here?"

Kamina piped up, "Is that was those things are called?"

The girl nodded, "They are piloted by beastmen, nasty creatures who are out to kill us humans."

Simon looked back at the face, "So is this one of theirs?"

The girl shook her head, "No, they wouldn't bury one of their own."

Kamina looked at the face as well, "Can we use it to fight that thing up above?"

The girl shrugged, "I wouldn't see why not."

Simon pushed his goggles down to his eyes, "Then lets do it!"

He jumped inside the small machine; it was obviously inactive judging by how everything looked dead. _How the hell do I start this thing?_

From his pocket a small pigmole emerged, holding the small drill that he had discovered. The digger nodded, understanding. _Of course! This has to be the activation key._

Simon grabbed the small drill from the pigmole and pointed it at a small hole that was directly in front of him. The drill bit began to glow with that same green light. Now sure that it was going to work he pushed it in and twisted it clockwise.

The machine immediately responded, a spiral slowly twisted out of the center of the display.

"Activation received, Lagann is now online." A voice spoke from the machine, it was deep and throaty, a male obviously.

"Lagann?" Simon looked at the controls with suspicion.

Kamina jumped in the small mecha, "Who cares, lets get going Simon!"

Simon nodded to his brother. "Right!"

* * *

**A/N: And so begins their journey…**

**I hope you guys will enjoy, please leave a follow or a fav if you wish and reviews area always appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2: The Surface

The gunman looked around wildly, he couldn't see where those puny humans had gone, and he was starting to get antsy.

He shouted down at the cowering villagers, "Where did those three go?"

No one responded to the gunman.

He raised his club, "Where did they go?"

The chief stuttered out only a few words, "I don't know, they disappeared."

The chief hid back under the rubble and put his hands over his head; he didn't want to die today. As the gunman was about to smash the helpless villagers to bits a hole appeared under him, unknown of course to the beastman.

* * *

Simon spoke to the machine, "What are you?"

The voice spoke once again, "I am a Lagann-type, meant for integration with other gunmen."

"How?" The girl asked the machine.

Without any words spoken two drills replaced the hands of Lagann.

_Drills? Oh hell yeah!_ "Are these our weapons Lagann?"

"Yes, these are the primary weapons of all Lagann-type gunmen."

Simon grabbed the controls, "Then lets take out that bastard up above!"

"Confirmed, engaging head drill."

"Huh?" Out of nowhere they were crammed into the small cockpit by a canopy.

"Activating jet boosters." The machine began to rumble.

Simon tried to grab the controls, but they weren't responding. "Hold on guys, I don't know what is going on."

The head drill and the two hands drills began to spin at a high frequency. Without any notice Lagann leaped upwards and into the rock. It churned through the stone with ease, making its way towards its objective.

"Approaching target Simon."

Simon was surprised that Lagann already knew his name, but it didn't matter at the moment.

* * *

"Give me a better answer damn you!" The gunman shouted at the chief again.

"I don't know where they are! I already told you that!"

"Lies!" The gunman made ready to crush them.

Down from below the gunman green energy began to burst from cracks in the ground and from down under the rock a smaller machine exploded from the earth. It rammed into the stomach of the larger machine and began to push it upwards.

The chief looked at the small machine with relief, "Thank heavens."

Slowly Lagann raised the beastman's machine until it was being pushed back up to the surface.

* * *

"Come on Lagann, lets break him apart!" Simon grasped the controls firmly and could feel the energy in his fingers.

"Understood."

Lagann's drills spun faster and faster, it began to crush and twist the metal. They were already high in the sky as the gunman began to break up.

"That's what you get for attacking our village, you monster!" Kamina shouted through the canopy to the gunman.

"What the hell are you doing?!" The gunman screamed at the small Lagann.

"Sending you to hell!" Lagann finally broke through the stomach and easily drilled through the innards of the gunman.

As they gunman fell to the earth in a pile of rubble, the canopy opened for the three, revealing as dazzling sunset.

They could see two spheres of light, one giving off a blue glow, the other a warm, orange glow. Simon's jacket had flown off due to the gust of wind, but he didn't care at the moment, he couldn't even believe his eyes.

"We made it bro! We got to the surface!" He looked at Kamina, who was smiling broadly for finally reaching his goal.

"It is really amazing." Kamina chuckled.

"My name is Yoko by the way." Simon jumped as he heard the girls voice again.

"Huh?"

She smiled at the digger, "Yoko, that is my name."

Simon grinned at Yoko, "My name is Simon, Yoko."

Kamina pointed to his chest, "My name is Kamina, the leader of Team Gurren."

Yoko looked down towards the ground, "We need to meet up with some of my friends, they are right over there."

She pointed to a couple of lights on the ground, Simon could see a couple people walking towards the wreckage of the gunman they destroyed.

* * *

"This is Dayakka, he is the leader of our village." Yoko introduced Simon and Kamina to a larger man, he wore a tank top and blue jeans.

Dayakka put out his hand to the two young men, "Pleasure to meet you, thanks for bringing Yoko back safely."

Yoko huffed, "I would've been fine."

Dayakka chuckled, "Whatever you say Yoko."

"My name is Simon." The digger shook Dayakka's hand firmly.

"Kamina." Kamina didn't shake Dayakka's hand.

It didn't seem to bother him though, "Always nice to see more people up here on the surface."

* * *

Simon and Kamina looked up at the bright blue sphere in the dark sky, they still couldn't believe that just a few hours ago they were down below in Jeeha.

"Can you believe it bro? Now we can finally find your father." Simon grinned at the blue sphere.

He could hear his brother sigh, "Yeah, I guess."

Simon looked at his bro with concern, "What do you mean, isn't this what you've wanted?"

Kamina nodded and smirked, "Its nothing, I just wish I could have one of these bad boys." He patted the side of Lagann.

Simon looked at his mecha, "It is pretty awesome, I still can't believe I found it."

"Well aren't you just a pretty little mecha."

A voice came from the side of where Simon sat in Lagann, he looked down to a green haired person staring at Lagann.

"Um who are you?" Kamina looked at the strange person, their voice was really strange.

"I'm Leeron, chief mechanic for Littner." Kamina still looked at him strangely.

"You can call me Beautiful Queen."

Kamina grunted, "I'd rather die!"

* * *

Leeron and Kamina left Simon to help with the salvaging of parts on the destroyed gunman.

He still was so excited at what he did today, "What else can you do Lagann."

The machine booted on quietly, "I am able to do anything if the will of my user is strong enough."

Simon looked at Lagann skeptically, "Really, anything?"

The display blinked, "Yes, anything."

Simon sat back in the seat of Lagann, relaxing for the first time in a couple of hours.

Simon was just about ready to doze off when a voice came from the side of Lagann again.

"Simon?"

He leaned up in the chair, "Yes?"

He looked down to see the gleaming eyes of Yoko. "Would you mind helping us out?"

He shrugged, "Sure, I don't mind."

She smiled happily, "Alright! Come with me." She began walking back to the wreckage.

Simon followed slowly behind, Yoko had her weapon slung over her shoulder and was walking with moderate haste. She was rather pale, but she had very beautiful skin. His eyes wandered and then he slapped himself. It was rather rare to see a girl so beautiful; he knew there wasn't any in Jeeha.

Turns out all he had to do was drag a small barge with Lagann, which was easy. Yoko sat in the cockpit with him; Kamina was busy talking with Dayakka about what the surface was like.

"Hey Yoko, how long have you been up?"

"A few years, it has been a fairly hard road. We usually salvage parts from the gunman we destroy."

Simon nodded, "So why haven't you guys built your own?"

Yoko turned her head, "Huh?"

The digger shrugged, "Build your own gunman."

Yoko laughed, "No one knows how to pilot one."

"You look pretty capable, especially what you've done with that thing." He pointed to her weapon.

She blushed, "Thanks, but there is more to piloting a gunman than just shooting a bullet."

Simon chuckled, "How hard can it be, I bet if my bro got a chance he would do it."

"I'm not sure if its that easy Simon, the cores of the gunman explode upon destruction, we haven't been able to build one because of that."

Simon looked back at the wreck for a moment, "Then I'll just get you one, when do these gunmen usually attack."

"During the day, but how are you planning on getting us into gunmen?" She looked at Simon with interest.

Simon thought back on what the gunman he saw today looked like, when it spoke he could see the mouth move open and close quickly.

"I'll pry the jaws of one open and get you two inside, Kamina first, you second. How about that?"

Yoko nodded and grinned, "That would be awesome, but it is dangerous." Her face turned rather serious.

Simon took another look at the wreckage, "Well if I can do that to one of them, how hard can two be?"

* * *

The village was a decent distance away, but they made it there just as the moon, that is what Simon had learned, was at its highest point.

There was a large bulkhead waiting for them, but it quickly opened when Yoko gave the signal to a watchman.

The inside of the village was extremely tall, enough to fit a large gunman inside easily. Simon dropped off the wreckage of the gunman in the center so the village could process it. He jumped down from Lagann, his bro was close behind and they were both extremely tired.

Kamina mumbled, "Bed?" As he walked to an abandoned home and fell down on some hay, he was out in a matter of seconds.

Simon found his own place and laid down, his eyelids were extremely heavy; he kept trying to stay awake but was unable to continue.

He whispered, "Good night," to his already asleep brother and drifted off into the world of dreams.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed, I know that these chapters are short and abrupt, but I don't know how else to do it. The flow will probably be better as I get into it more, but I hope you will be patient!**

**Thanks for the read, hope to see you next time!**


	3. Chapter 3: Gurren

_Simon walked on and on, the world of his dream expanded for as far as he could see. He was on some thick grassy plain, but he wasn't able to recognize where he was._

_He came across a cliff that dropped down to a humongous lake; the wind blew heavily on the cliff, causing him to tighten his coat. In the distance he could see a large rock, it stretched on into the sky, never ending._

_He smiled, he enjoyed this view, it was even better than when he first made it to the surface._

_The mountain suddenly exploded, releasing glowing red material from the earth, he gaped in awe at the power of the explosion, he could feel it strongly even where he stood._

_The tremors became stronger and stronger until he was abruptly woken from his slumber._

* * *

Simon bolted upright from where he was sleeping; the tremor shook the entire village with amazing force. Kamina was immediately awake and running out the door.

"What the hell was that?! An earthquake?" Kamina was running around wildly.

Yoko was sitting nearby, messing with her weapon. "Every day starts with a morning raid by gunmen, better get used to it."

Simon walked out of the house and towards Lagann, "Should we be worried?"

Leeron was standing beside Yoko, "No, they usually don't get this far."

Yoko spoke with a bullet in her mouth, "Maybe they want payback for yesterday?" She got up from where she was sitting and put the brass bullet into her rifle.

Simon grabbed his drill and turned on Lagann, "Lagann is now online, ready for command, Simon."

He grabbed the controls, "Lets get out there Lagann, we have to protect Littner." He could feel the engine begin to rev up.

"Hold on cowboy!" Kamina jumped up into Lagann with his sword by his side.

"Lets go get them blood brother!" Kamina pointed towards the door.

"I'm coming as well!" Yoko jumped up into Lagann beside Simon.

_Why do they have to make it so crowded?_ Simon pressed the controls together and Lagann flew forward, it had engaged its rear jets.

They flew out of Littner with great speed and began to ascend. They could see two gunmen standing out on the dry plain.

"What are they doing?" Simon was puzzled why they hadn't attacked yet.

A siren sounded nearby, "Here comes some more."

"What?!" Simon was sure that he could handle two until he got Kamina in one, but to deal with more than that seemed a little extreme.

Three more large pods dropped down beside the two gunmen that were already there. _Five gunmen!_ Simon gripped the controls.

"Lagann, we need to distract these guys to keep them away from the village, drop off Yoko on that cliff so she can support us."

Yoko looked at Simon with surprise, "Wait, I thought you were going to get me a gunman, you can't take on five on your own!"

Simon smirked, "I'll come back to get you, right now we need to get bro in one." He closed the canopy and jumped back off the cliff.

Lagann charged at the five gunmen, "See something you like bro?"

Kamina pointed to the orange one, it had yellow arms and legs. "That one, I like that one. Get me in there!"

Lagann jumped up and activated its rockets, it flew towards the orange gunman and slammed right into its mouth.

The beastman within screamed Lagann pried the doors open on the cockpit. "Get in there Kamina, its all you!"

"Roger that brother!" Kamina pointed his sword at the beastman. "I think this is mine now."

As the hatch closed Lagann jumped from the gunman and flew back to where Yoko was shooting.

"Yoko, your turn!" The canopy opened to allow her to jump in.

She slung her rifle and jumped in Lagann, "Get me to that one over there."

She pointed to the gunman on the far right; the forces of Littner were stalling it. This gunman had a more humanoid look as opposed to Kamina's, it also used a large cleaver as it's weapon.

"Alright, I'll get you in the cockpit." Simon looked to Kamina's gunman; it wasn't working and was getting attacked by the other three gunmen. _Shit, I need to get over there._

While Simon was looking at Kamina's struggle he forgot about the gunman he was charging and didn't focus on his speed. When he looked back the cleaver was bearing down on Lagann. _Shit!_

Lagann was knocked aside with great force, Yoko slammed against the back of Lagann's canopy.

"Yoko! Are you alright?"

She nodded; there was blood on her hand, "Get me in there."

Simon activated his hand drills and charged the gunman once again, this time he busted through the cleaver and did the same as he did to Kamina's.

The female beastman, or beastwoman, jumped out of the cockpit and to the ground and proceeded to scream and carryon like a frightened little girl. _Apparently they weren't expecting such a fight._

Simon looked at his bro's gunman and it was being pummeled. "I'm coming bro!"

The gunman that had his back against him suddenly turned and grabbed him by the drill. _Uh-oh._

Lagann was thrown at the cliff and smashed into the rock. Simon looked down at the controls and saw that they weren't responding.

"Lagann, what's going on?" Simon pressed down on the two controls, but still nothing happened.

"We've suffered damage to our navigational systems, I need time to reboot them." Lagann spoke in a more frustrated tone than what Simon was used to.

_We need to get back in there!_ Simon looked up to see that Kamina finally had gotten up and began attacking. Kamina's gunman had lost on of it's arms, but still stood between the other three gunmen and Yoko. _Come on damnit!_

"System online Simon."

_All right!_ Lagann shot out of the cliff and towards the gunman that had put him there.

"Lagann Impact!" Simon shouted as Lagann blew right through one of the gunmen.

Kamina's gunman looked at Lagann, "Where were you Simon?"

Simon smirked, "You know, just got stuck in a cliff."

Kamina jumped to where Lagann was and picked him up in the remaining arm. "Do it again Simon, take 'em both down!"

"What?" Simon didn't have any time to respond as the gunman threw Lagann back towards the other remaining gunmen. Yoko's still hadn't gotten up from where it was and was getting attacked by the two gunmen.

_They're both distracted._ "Lagann, can you take out both?"

"With the use of the rockets, yes, but you might suffer some damage from the boost."

Simon nodded, "Do it."

Lagann smashed through the first gunman and the side rockets activated so he could take down the second. Simon could feel the strain on his bones and a cracking sound, pain quickly followed. _Damn it!_ He looked at the spiral gauge; he had used the last of his energy.

He looked back to the two gunmen and was relieved to see that both had been destroyed. Simon leaned back. _All in a days work_, he chuckled to himself.

Yoko's mecha finally responded and got up from where it was; thankfully it had only suffered minor injuries. Lagann was picked up by Yoko and carried back to Littner, with Kamina following close behind.

He wasn't able to see, but he was pretty sure that Yoko was smiling down at the smaller Lagann. He relaxed in the cockpit as he was dropped down in the center of the village. The villagers looked at them with awe and admiration, which made Simon feel good about his work.

* * *

Dinner came later and was a welcome sight to the three.

Kamina burped slightly, "Gurren."

Simon and Yoko looked at Kamina in confusion, "Gurren?"

Kamina nodded and smiled, "That's what I'm naming my mecha, his name is Gurren."

Simon chuckled, "Nice name, where on earth did you come up with it?"

Kamina pointed towards the ceiling of Littner, "We're gonna pierce the heavens Simon, whether God likes it or not."

Simon was once again confused, "What do you mean bro?"

"We made it this far, we are going to go even further. Count on it." Then he proceeded to pass out in his seat.

_How the hell does he do that?_ Simon looked at Kamina with amusement.

"Hmm, how about Seidden?" Yoko had her head on her hand.

"For your mecha?" Simon did like the ring of Seidden.

Yoko nodded, "What do you think?"

Simon smiled, "I like it, simple."

Yoko blushed, "Thanks. Great work today by the way."

Simon stretched, "Thanks, I didn't even know I had it in me."

They looked at Seidden and Gurren being repaired, both were being refitted with parts from all the previous gunmen that they had destroyed.

Yoko got up and yawned, "Well, todays been pretty great, thanks for getting me a gunman."

Simon nodded, "No problem, anything for a friend."

Yoko turned away and her face became redder. She mumbled something he couldn't catch before walking off towards he home.

Simon decided to leave Kamina there so he could rest; he got comfortable in his bed and yawned explosively. _There will be more tomorrow, I had best be ready for it._

* * *

**A/N:** **Sorry for the short chapters, I need to get the story on its feet. I am still debating what I want the average words per chapter to be, somewhere between 1500 and 2500 per maybe. For most chapters anyway.**

**Hope you enjoyed and look forward to seeing you guys next chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4: The Duel

Simon awoke the next day not to the sound of an earthquake, but to the smell of something amazing. He sat up slowly and stretched, he could feel the soreness of yesterday quickly set in, and it made him feel that much more tired.

As he was about to walk out of his home he ran into something. Apparently that something was someone, because Yoko was sitting on the ground.

Simon quickly leaned down and held out his hand, "Sorry about that, still a little groggy." He gave an embarrassed smile to the sniper.

She groaned and took his hand, "Its fine, I was just coming to tell you that breakfast was about to be ready, if you wanted to come down."

Simon looked over to the center of the village everyone was gathered there. They were talking to one another, laughing and carrying on without a care in the world.

Kamina was at one of the ends; beside him were two empty seats. A heavenly aroma drifted past Simon's nose.

"What is that?" He could feel drool rolling down the side of his mouth.

Yoko giggled, "That would be bacon Simon."

Simon seemed surprised, "Bacon?"

Yoko nodded, "Yup, didn't you have bacon back in Jeeha?"

Simon shook his head, "We only had pigmole steaks and maybe some bread."

Yoko frowned, "That doesn't even seem very healthy."

Simon shrugged, "Who cares, that stuff smells amazing!"

* * *

The two ran over to the table and sat down, it was rather crowded with the entire village sitting at one large table. It was made out of a piece of armor from one of the gunmen.

Dayakka smiled to all of them, "Hope you enjoy everyone, this is to the victory yesterday!" He raised a mug to the group.

"Cheers!" Everyone shouted out and began to dig in.

Simon had never tasted anything so amazing, the bacon has a smoky type taste and was chewy and crunchy at the same time. He then ate something called eggs; they came from chickens, which Littner took care of. They also gave him a mug similar to Dayakka's; in it was a brown colored liquid. When Simon drank it he almost wanted to spit it out, but after he swallowed he actually enjoyed the earthy taste.

"Yoko, what is this?" He pointed to the brown water.

Yoko took a swig of her own dirty water, "That's coffee, everyone drinks it here to start of the day."

Simon took a whiff from the top of the mug; it smells a whole lot better than it tasted.

They all continued eating and when finished began to clean up the china that they used. Simon was glad to be able to something so simple, he was used to digging from mostly the beginning of the day to the end. The water felt good on his hands as he scrubbed the dishes clean. Yoko was working alongside him; Kamina was too busy still eating.

Yoko looked at the leader of Team Gurren, "How does he eat that much?"

Simon chuckled, "I don't know, no one ever beat him at eating back in Jeeha, he has the belly of a leviathan."

They both laughed as Kamina continued to eat through the leftover bacon and eggs. He also drank the rest of the coffee as well, even though he had a grimace while he was doing it.

* * *

They were eventually relieved by some of the villagers and were told to go look in the hanger since Saidden and Gurren had finished repairs.

They were astounded at what Leeron and his group did in one night, both Gurren and Saidden looked astounding. Both were polished to a high sheen and were outfitted with the parts of the trashed gunmen.

"Just finished them this morning." Leeron stepped out from behind them.

Simon smiled, "They look amazing."

Leeron nodded, "We just need you to field test them with the new modifications."

This definitely got Yoko fired up, "Are you serious? Awesome!" She looked up at her new Saidden.

Simon looked around for his mecha, "Where is Lagann?"

"Its behind Gurren, we tried to do some minor modifications, but it rejected us."

Simon could see Lagann behind one of Gurren's legs. "Wow, he is one spirited mecha."

Leeron nodded again, "But he is good to go, feel free to take them out whenever."

Yoko turned to Simon, "Come on, lets go!"

_Is she normally this excited about something?_ He watched he as she jumped up into Saidden's cockpit and it shut behind her. Since Simon didn't want to miss out on the fun he ran and grabbed Lagann. He turned the core drill felt the welcoming engines of his mecha.

"Lagann is online." He heard the familiar voice speak to him.

"Come on Lagann, we're going to train with Saidden."

"Understood Simon." Another voice spoke from Lagann, a different one, it was female this time.

"Who is this Lagann?"

"That is Saidden, she too can listen to commands." Lagann spoke in monotone.

"Simon." A small screen appeared to his right; it was being projected on Lagann's canopy.

Yoko was looking at him, "Yoko, how did you get in here?"

"Leeron put in a communication system that fit with Lagann."

Kamina's screen then appeared, "Alright, lets get going Team Gurren!"

Gurren began to walk out of the hanger, both Saidden and Lagann following. The engineering of Gurren and Saidden were both extremely smooth, they moved with grace that wouldn't be expected from machines, even almost human.

* * *

They eventually made it out to the field where they would be training, Leeron appeared as a screen as well.

"We need give a strain test to Gurren and Saidden, they both took a beating yesterday and we need to make sure they will be alright for combat."

Both Kamina and Yoko nodded.

Gurren took a fighting stance against Saidden and she in turn did the same.

"Ready?" Yoko looked determined, as she made ready to fight Kamina.

Kamina scoffed, "Are you kidding, the great Kamina is always ready for a fight. No matter where it may be Team Gurren will be ready for even the smallest conflict!"

_Does he always talk this much?_ Simon looked at the two mechas, taking bets on who was going to win. Even though Gurren was strong and heavyweight he believed that it would be clumsy and unwieldy. Saidden looked much lighter and more agile, but perhaps a good hit would put her in the hot seat.

Simon sighed, _Whatever, they might just draw._

Gurren charged Saidden without thinking, which for Kamina seemed to work just fine. The larger mecha crashed into Saidden with great force, Simon could hear Yoko shout over the comm.

"What was that for?" Yoko was glaring at Kamina through the screen.

"Hmph, you always need to be ready Yoko, even when you don't expect it." Kamina had a confident smirk.

An evil grin spread across Yoko's face, "Alright then blockhead, get ready."

Saidden jumped into the air and rocketed towards Gurren with a fist extended. Gurren wasn't ready for the attack and took one right to the center mass, sending it flying towards the cliff.

Yoko gave a satisfied huff, "How was that?"

Gurren pulled himself out of the rubble of the cliff, "Are you kidding me, that was child's play."

"System integrity at eighty percent." Another mechanical voice spoke over the group comm, it was male this time, but not Lagann.

"Gurren has a voice too Lagann?"

"Of course, he too was configured like Saidden."

Gurren held up his fists and charged Saidden once again, this time Yoko dodged it without trouble. The heavy mecha passed by her without a problem.

"Kamina, you can go headfirst into everything." Yoko sighed as she saw Gurren stumble to the ground.

"Like hell!" Gurren made a quick turn and smashed back into Saidden.

"Damn!" Yoko exclaimed over the channel.

Gurren had Saidden pinned down to the ground. "Give up Yoko?"

Saidden couldn't push up from the weight of Gurren, "Fine, you win this time." Saidden relaxed under Gurren's grip.

Simon was impressed by his bro, even though he did attack like a bat out of hell.

"That's it for now guys, bring 'em back in." Leeron signaled for them to return to base.

* * *

Even though they didn't make it out as such, both Gurren and Saidden were pretty banged up when they made it back to the hanger. Simon was happy that both of them put up a good fight.

As Yoko was being put down from Saidden she yelled at Kamina, "Leave it to you to do something so dirty!"

Kamina shrugged, "It was a fair fight, you were the one who dodged."

Before the two could get into a tussle right on the hanger floor, Simon stopped them.

"You both did fine out there, there are just a few things I think you guys need to work on."

"Why didn't Lagann have to do anything today?"

"We only needed to test out the communication network with Lagann, it had been battle tested yesterday." Leeron was right beside Kamina, to which he scooted away.

"Both of you deserve a bit of lunch, go get some grub." Simon pointed towards the main section of Littner.

Kamina grunted, "Fine, but you better be ready next time Yoko, show me some more of that fighting spirit!"

"Whatever blockhead." They both grumbled as they left.

"Leeron?"

Leeron had already gone back to make some repairs on Gurren. "What is it Simon?"

"Is there anyway we could make a rifle for Saidden? Since Yoko's good with that already?"

Leeron put his finger on his chin and scrunched his eyebrows in concentration. "Maybe, I don't see why not."

Simon smiled, "Thanks!"

He walked off to catch up with Yoko and his bro; they were already around the table eating to their hearts content. Yoko was trying to keep up with Kamina, but was failing horribly. When she had finished one plate, Kamina had finished three.

Yoko put her head down on the table, "I give up, how do you do it?"

Kamina belched loudly, "A bit of that manly spirit!" He patted his stomach proudly.

There was a plate left for Simon, he did feel hunger pulling at his stomach. _Better to eat now than regret later._

He burped in contentment after he had finished, it did feel like using a gunman made one hungry.

Kamina stretched and yawned, "I'm gonna take a nap, wake me if anything eventful happens."

"Sure thing bro." Kamina disappeared inside his house.

* * *

Simon took a break after lunch, laying down on one of the couches in Littner; he had only been up for a couple of hours and already felt tired. _This is worse than any drilling that I did back in Jeeha._ He looked up at the ceiling and sighed, he needed to train more if he was to use Lagann for a prolonged period of time.

He thought back onto Yoko and Kamina's performance, both had done well for their second time out in their gunmen. They both were attacking blindly though even Simon could see that.

Yoko had the potential to become greater, but that was because she could take advice much easier than his bro. Kamina would always be able to do his best when he charged headfirst into anything, so Simon couldn't do anything about that.

He sighed once again and rolled onto his side and saw Yoko walking towards him. _Wonder what she wants?_ Simon sat up so he could talk to her better.

"Hey Simon, I want to know what you thought of our fight today. You said we could work on a few things, what did you see that involved me?"

Simon scratched his head, "Well, it's obvious you aren't used to close quarters combat."

Yoko nodded at this.

"Umm, you seem to be doing well on knowing where to attack your enemy, that probably came from using your sniper."

She nodded at this as well.

Simon shrugged, "Perhaps there isn't really anything all that wrong besides planning you moves since Saidden is lighter than some other mecha like Gurren."

Yoko propped her head on her knee. "Hmm, alright."

"Other than that, I think you are good to go." Simon smiled confidently at Yoko.

Yoko's cheeks reddened slightly when Simon smiled.

She quickly got up from her chair and walked off towards the hanger. "Thanks Simon." She said hastily.

Simon watched her as she left. _That was a tad strange._

* * *

Simon could see his shadow his shadow was becoming longer. _Must be getting close to dinner._

He stretched and got up from the couch and wandered towards the main room. A few people were milling about, working on different things here and there.

Simon could see Yoko standing near the main gate.

"What ya thinking about Yoko?" He walked up beside her.

Yoko jumped and looked at the digger, "Oh, just about to go hunting really quick. Since there hasn't been any raids today I thought I could go out and get some food."

Simon nodded considering it made sense. "You want me to come with you?"

"And me?" Kamina yawned behind them.

Yoko smiled at the two, "Sure, I see no reason why not."

* * *

The plains stretched on for several miles from where they were sitting. Kamina had gone down to hunt using his sword, leaving Yoko and Simon up on a cliff with her sniper.

She fired on a bird looking creature, "Since my rifle is electric powered I can shoot all sorts of projectiles." She loaded another arrow into her gun.

"But you usually fire bullets?" Simon studied Yoko as she shot. She was sitting in a prone position so the scope wouldn't sway as much, he was already told that. She looked very natural sitting there with her sniper in hand.

"Yup." Another arrow was shot out of the gun and another bird fell.

Simon looked down to see his bro picking up the birds and smiling up at them.

"We don't really have to worry about raids during the evenings because of beastmen following a code."

Simon nodded, "Interesting."

Lagann was standing nearby; since it was much smaller it was able to come along with them just in case.

Gunshots were heard from down on the plain, immediately making both Simon and Yoko look for Kamina. He could be seen fighting what looked to be a man down on the ground; they were engaged sword to sword.

"What the hell? I thought beastmen didn't come out during the evening?"

Yoko loaded bullets into her rifle, "I don't know, but you need to get down there and help him."

Simon nodded, "Roger that!" He jumped inside Lagann and flew down towards Kamina.

The beastman jumped out of the way of Lagann, considering that Simon tried to ram him, and disappeared into the shrubbery.

"Bro, who was that?"

Kamina looked at where the beastman disappeared. "Some bastard named Viral."

"Come on, we need to get back to the cliff."

Kamina leaped inside Lagann as it took off from the ground, from behind some large rocks they could see a gunman stand. It was a very light violet color and looked at them menacingly.

"Where are you going humans?"

* * *

**A/N: Yes, another odd place to end a chapter, but it seemed rather fitting so I could lead into the next one. Hope you guys enjoyed and make sure to leave a review.**

**P.S: If you have any questions about the story in general, not plot specific, and want to ask, make sure to PM me!**


	5. Chapter 5: Viral

A large shadow was cast over Lagann, Simon looked up in nervousness. _We don't have the firepower to take on this guy._

"I am apart of the Human Eradication Squad, Commander Viral." Simon could see the large gunman almost smirk.

"Simon, Kamina, get out of there. I'll cover you!" Yoko fired several rounds at Viral's gunman, but a deployable shield blocked them.

Lagann lifted up off the ground to get away from Viral, but his mecha was too quick, it smashed them back down in the ground without any problem. Lagann quickly put up his arms to push back against the foot.

"System at sixty percent, suggest taking cover." Lagann spoke to the two men.

"Hold on Lagann, use the hand drills to hold him off."

"Understood." Lagann's hands quickly switched from holding the large gunman off of them, to drilling into its feet.

"Can we somehow barb the drills Lagann, so that he can't run?"

"Yes, activating thorn drills."

Small spikes appeared along the drill bit and began to tear Viral's foot to pieces.

"Filthy humans!" The mecha lifted its foot, but Lagann was still latched on.

The foot quickly disintegrated and Lagann began drilling into Viral's leg. A large hand came from the side, threatening to knock Lagann off.

"Get the hell off of my machine!" The hand flicked the weaker Lagann away, sending Kamina ping ponging all inside the canopy.

The leader of Team Gurren looked at Viral, "Come now, is that the best you have? Team Gurren will never give up so easily!"

"Guys, you need to get out of there, we can't beat this guy right now." Yoko's voice was laced with concern.

Kamina shook his head, "Are you kidding, this guy doesn't stand a chance against Simon's drills! They will pierce the heavens, so how can one measly bot stop up?"

They could hear Yoko sigh, "Be careful."

Simon nodded, "You know it."

Lagann deployed its drills once more and flew towards Viral.

"That won't work again human." The mecha drew two swords against the small gunman.

"Lagann, drill down into the earth!"

"Understood." Lagann smashed down into the ground and began to plow through the earth. They had disappeared from their enemy's sight.

"Get below his other foot, lets make him unbalanced."

Lagann took over the controls and navigated through the thick earth. It pushed back towards the surface and impacted with something solid.

"Needle drills, now!" Simon shouted to Lagann.

They once again began tearing through Viral's armor; he couldn't lift this foot for fear of falling over. At this point there was nothing for the larger gunman to do besides run.

The large gunman smashed Lagann back down into the ground and began running.

"We'll meet again, you naked apes!" The mecha hobbled off towards where the sun sets.

Kamina scoffed, "I'll be waiting, but this time it will be a fair fight."

* * *

They got back to Littner after the moon had already risen and the sun disappeared, Dayakka was obviously worried.

"Wish we could've helped, we didn't know that you guys were having trouble."

Kamina waved him off, "No problem, Lagann and Simon tore that guy a new one." He patted his little brother on the back.

Simon smiled proudly; they did make a pretty good team, even better if Gurren and Saidden was there. Something bothered him though, that beastman was tougher than anything that they had faced previous and now he was furious at them.

"Chances are he will attack tomorrow, we need to be ready." Yoko had voiced his very thoughts.

Kamina scoffed, "Are you kidding? Lagann alone nearly destroyed him; he wouldn't dare fight all three of us.

"What if he brings more than just himself?" Simon knew that was a very sure possibility.

Kamina nodded, "We'll just destroy them as well, if we fight together we are unstoppable!" Kamina was now up on a nearby table.

Leeron shook his head, "We need to go get your team ready for tomorrow, they still had quite a beating from training."

Kamina pointed at Leeron, "We need to be prepared for anything, who knows what that devil will try."

Leeron shook his head and sighed as he walked back towards the hangar.

* * *

It became quiet after Team Gurren had made it back to Littner and it frustrated Simon. For some reason he never really liked the quiet, it felt too strange, unnerving even.

He decided to go to the top of the village, where he could see out and breath the fresh air. When he exited the village and sat out on the rock he was greeted with a cool breeze and a beautiful night sky.

He had brought with him one of the cups of coffee from the kitchen; the earthy smell was welcoming to him, even though he didn't really like the taste. He took a small sip and looked out to where Gurren and Saidden had trained. A large crater had formed in the side of the cliff due to the hit Gurren suffered; Simon was still surprised that Yoko had it in her.

He had only been up here for a short time and already fell in love with the night. Considering he had been living underground for so long he wasn't used to the sun, it burned his skin when he stayed out for too long. The night was cool, quiet, and very relaxing, especially if he found places like where he was.

Simon's thoughts quickly clouded with worry, worry of what will happen tomorrow against Viral. He knew all too well now that these gunmen fight in packs as opposed to being on their own. He knew that they would be all right if they worked together, but they were still inexperienced in the fighting style of gunmen.

_I had best get some shuteye; I need to be ready for tomorrow._ Simon yawned and walked back down into Littner. Yoko and Kamina were already asleep when he passed by each of their cottages.

His bed had never felt so comfortable; the stress of piloting Lagann today really took its toll. He knew that he had to get better, stronger; otherwise he would be a detriment to his team.

_Come tomorrow, there might not be a Littner to come back to._ He felt nervous as he laid in his bed, but eventually let sleep overcome him.

* * *

The dawn seemed to come early and Simon was welcomed with the familiar smell of coffee and bacon.

"Grubs on Team Gurren!" Simon could hear Dayakka call up to the three.

He then saw Kamina leap over the edge of his balcony and land down on the ground with a thump. He stretched and sighed; he didn't even feel that rested.

Both Yoko and Kamina were already eating by the time that he had gotten down to the table; they seemed full of energy for today. _Looks like I'm the only one that is tired. _He yawned again and began eating quickly; Viral could be coming within the hour.

"What's wrong Simon?" Kamina looked at his brother with concern.

Simon rubbed his eyes, "Dunno, I feel really tired today." He yawned once again.

Kamina patted him on the back, "You'll be fine and this time you have Gurren to back you up."

"And Saidden." Yoko smiled at the digger.

Simon felt rather encouraged that his friends were there for him; it gave him a bit of energy.

"Drink this." Two cups of coffee were passed down to him and he accepted them with gratitude. Even though they could taste bad he needed the energy that they would provide to his system.

A burp resounded from his side; Kamina had finished eating and was already running off towards where Gurren was standing.

"Come on Team Gurren, let's meet that bastard!"

Simon and Yoko got up from where they were sitting and ran towards their gunmen as well. Kamina was already inside Gurren when Yoko was getting in Saidden.

"Come on slowpokes! We don't want to keep him waiting." Gurren began to walk out of the hangar.

Yoko grunted as she finally got inside her gunman, "Easy for you to say blockhead."

Saidden and Lagann followed Gurren out onto the plain, but there wasn't a Viral for them to meet.

"Where the hell is he?" Gurren looked around.

"Scanning. Incoming gunmen from the south." Lagann spoke to Simon.

"He's nearly here guys, get ready."

Three objects impacted down into the ground as he finished, they quickly deployed into gunmen.

"I'm surprised that you would wait for us, you naked ape." Viral's mecha stood out in front, two gunmen stood behind, they looked exactly alike.

"I would like to introduce you to the Twins, they will be helping me wipe you from existence."

Gurren walked up face to face with Viral, "Are you kidding, you three are nothing against Team Gurren!"

"Huh, we'll see." Viral's mecha nodded to the other two and they leaped into the air.

Simon looked up, surprised by the speed of the Twins.

"Yoko, get ready!" Simon could see the two coming back down towards Saidden.

Gurren had begun engaging Viral without another second to spare. The Twins extended out a leg each, aiming right for Saidden.

"Oh no you don't!" Before the two could impact Saidden dodged out of the way, leaving them to smash into the ground.

"Come on Lagann!" Simon charged towards where the two had fallen. He could see their forms through the dust and attacked them with drills extended.

Lagann ripped apart one of their leg units, leaving the already damaged twin down on the ground, the other quickly jumped back into the air. _Leave you comrade behind, you beastmen have no loyalty!_

Lagann flew up after the other twin, leaving the other injured one on the ground.

* * *

"We fight for the great Spiral King, who are you to deny his rule?" Viral's fist extended and smashed into an unexpected Gurren.

"Are you kidding, you can't stop us!" Gurren got up once again to face the powerful gunman.

"I'll break you!" A leg came down towards Gurren's face.

"Not today!" Gurren grabbed the leg.

"Simon!" He called to his brother.

"What is it bro?" Simon's face with filled with determination as he fought the other twin.

"Lets do the you know what!"

"What are you talking about bro?" Simon looked confused.

Kamina chuckled, "You dumbass, we're going to combine!"

A pause followed shortly after and then a sigh. "What ever you say bro, Yoko, take care of these guys!" Lagann then flew towards Gurren.

"Roger that." Saidden ran towards the downed Twins.

"What the hell are you doing?" Gurren was still holding Viral's leg.

"We're going to tear you a new one!" Gurren threw Viral backwards and caught the incoming Lagann.

Immediately Lagann's drill was smashed into Gurren's head, effectively combining the both of them in a strange manner.

Viral sighed, "You have got to be kidding."

Kamina laughed at Viral, "Now we are just as tall as you!" Viral's mecha had been taller than Gurren.

Viral shook his head, "Combining doesn't work like that, you idiots."

Red energy began gathering up by the crest of Viral's helm, it gleamed threatening in the morning sun.

"What the hell?"

"Taste the power of the Spiral Empire!" Viral shouted before the energy flew towards Gurren and Lagann.

"Simon, Kamina!" That was all Yoko could shout out before the two were enveloped in the energy.

"Now to take care of you." Viral turned towards Saidden.

"Come and get me you bastard!" Saidden drew her cleavers.

As Viral was about to attack Yoko he was knocked away by a tremendous force.

"Taste the power of manliness!" Kamina shouted towards his opponent.

"You shouldn't turn your back on us until we are all but spent!" Simon too yelled at Viral.

"How in the hell did you survive that?" Viral was down on the ground looking at them in horror.

"It is the power of Team Gurren, even if you try, you cannot stop us!" Simon looked down on Viral.

"Brotherly combining, Gurren Lagann! Just who the hell do you think we are?" The new mecha stood proudly over him.

"You impudent apes, you really think that killing me will bring you victory. You have made a mortal enemy of the Spiral King!" Viral drew his swords and knocked Gurren Lagann down onto the ground.

"Then let him come, we'll take him down to!" Simon couldn't feel the exhaustion from earlier anymore, he felt renewed with great energy. The gauge on Lagann was spiraling outward until it was filled with green energy.

Viral didn't stay however, he ran like a coward towards the west, leaving the Twins behind.

Saidden had already put the two out of commission, but their pilots didn't try to escape.

* * *

**A/N: Just to clear anything up, Kamina is about twenty, Yoko and Simon are sixteen, just in case you were wondering.**

**Hope you enjoyed guys!**


	6. Chapter 6: Departure

Gurren Lagann and Saidden looked down on the two damaged mechas, they hadn't moved since Viral left.

"What is with this, are they not going to attack?" Simon was confused as to why they even bothered; their offensive seemed rather weak.

Gurren shrugged, "Want to go down there and talk to them?"

Lagann detached from the union and landed down by the Twins.

"Hello?" Lagann walked closer to them.

He broke open the cockpit, inside was an unconscious girl.

Simon looked at her confused, "Huh."

He walked over to the other and opened it as well, inside was a near identical girl.

"Guys, they are girls I think!" He called up to Saidden and Gurren.

"What? Why would they have women piloting?" Gurren scratched his head.

Saidden put her hands on her hips, "What is that supposed to mean?"

Gurren shrugged, "Nothing, nothing."

"Help me get this wreckage back to Littner." Simon grabbed the two girls and began to walk back to the cliffs.

Yoko watched Lagann as he flew off, "Very strange."

* * *

Lagann landed with a thud in Littner as he lay the two pilots down on the ground, he was till extremely skeptical of them.

"Why would they give up like that?" Simon shook his head as he flew back to help get the Twins mechas back to Littner.

Saidden and Gurren picked up the largest pieces of the mechas, the rest was left to Lagann to take care of. Thankfully they hadn't torn off many smaller parts, but there was still a few to pick up.

Leeron was surprised to see the two mechas in operating condition, even though they were basically crippled. Dayakka saw to the two pilots, getting them some treatment for the minor wounds and bandaging up the few bigger cuts.

"Who are they?" Kamina looked down at the two.

"I thought beastmen were animal looking creatures, they look like normal girls to me." Simon too was interested in who they were.

Both Yoko and Dayakka shrugged, "As far as we know they are only beasts, not like this."

"Guess we'll just interrogate them when they wake up." Kamina walked out of the room and down to the kitchen, he mumbled something about being hungry.

"Why does he seem so put out?" Yoko watched him walk out.

"Probably because Viral ran when Kamina wanted to finish the fight."

Yoko sighed, "Are you going to keep an eye on them?" She looked over to the Twins.

"I guess, someone needs to keep watch until they wake up."

Yoko patted him on the back and smiled, "I'll go get you some food, fighting like you did today must've taken much more energy than before."

Simon's stomach growled at the mention of food, he blushed in embarrassment. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Be right back." Yoko left Simon alone with the two unconscious pilots.

* * *

As Yoko grabbed food for both herself and Simon she could feel uneasiness rush through her. They didn't know anything about these twins and yet they treated them with care and consideration. _Maybe we are keeping them for information?_

She walked back to the medical bay with two trays of food, Simon was sitting back against the wall when she came in the room, he was looking at the pilots skeptically.

"Nothing yet?" She held out one tray of food.

Simon shook his head and took the tray, "Thanks, they probably won't wake up for a while, might as well eat."

They enjoyed their food in silence, it definitely rejuvenated Yoko after the fight with them, she couldn't believe how much energy piloting a gunman can take.

She would cast glances at the Twins, checking to see if they were awake, but they still stayed asleep or unconscious. _Does getting knocked out really last that long?_

Yoko knew as soon as they would wake Dayakka and Kamina would want to interrogate them, see what they knew about this Spiral King. She shook her head, trying to clear the thoughts from her mind; she didn't want to be burdened with anything more considering what happened today.

* * *

The day drug along, nothing eventful happened after the battle with Viral and the Twins. Yoko had fallen asleep in one of the chairs in the med bay, nobody came to swap out with Simon for watching them, so she decided to stay to keep him company.

He stayed in his chair, not moving much; his eyes were still clouded with so much nervousness. _What if they get up and want to kill me? What if I can't stop them?_ He looked to see that they were in binding, so it helped him relax more.

Just when he thought he would dose off as well one of them stirred. She rolled over and looked him directly in the eyes, making him freeze instantly.

"Who are you?" She asked.

He stuttered, he wasn't sure what to say, "Umm, Simon."

She yawned and stretched, "Where am I Simon?" She didn't sound very concerned that she woke up someplace unfamiliar.

"Umm, I don't think I can tell you that." He nudged Yoko, getting her awake as well.

The girl had slightly tanner skin than Yoko, a little older, with burgundy hair, and green eyes. She looked at the two and smiled.

"Thank you for letting me rest?"

Simon could feel that nervousness creeping back into him. _How in the hell did she just get out of her binding?_ She hung her legs over the side of the bed and looked at the digger with interest.

He scratched his head, "No problem, but don't you know we're the enemy?"

"Enemy?" She looked at him curiously.

"We aren't with the Spiral King." He stood up from his seat.

She yawned once again, "Well, that isn't really a problem, we weren't really with him either."

Yoko's face scrunched in confusion, "What?"

The girl shrugged, "We were recruited by the Human Eradication Squad because of our skills. We come from far below, in the deep southern region of the world. The Spiral King doesn't really have any power down there."

"What?" Simon looked at the girl incredulously.

She nodded, "He controls the majority, but not all of the planet. The farthest regions in the north and south are out of his control due to the distance from the capitol."

"Interesting." Simon looked towards the door to see his bro standing there, he was leaning up against the frame.

He walked up to the girl, "Anything you can tell us about the Spiral King?"

She shook her head, "Sorry, I don't know much more than what was given to me by my superiors on Dai-Gunzan."

"Dai-Gunzan?"

She poked her sister, "Yup, that is where we were stationed, we didn't get to do much and when we heard that old Viral was going to attack three humans we decided to tag along."

"We didn't realize that you were so powerful." The other twin was awake and stretching.

"Where is this Dai-Gunzan?" Kamina didn't really want to get off topic.

"It moves, we were given navigational data of its position."

Kamina slammed his hands down on a nearby table, "That's where we will strike first! We'll take down their base near here and show this Spiral King what we're made of!"

The Twins looked at him surprised, "You want to fight him?"

Kamina, Simon, and Yoko nodded in assurance, "He is a tyrant, we seek to dethrone him."

The Twins then looked at one another, worry filled their eyes. "That won't work."

Kamina seemed surprised now, "Why the hell not?"

"He owns most of the planet, has five great generals under his command, one of which controls Dai-Gunzan." To them it seemed like common sense.

Kamina scoffed, "Are you kidding, that's nothing compared to what Team Gurren can accomplish!"

This threw the Twins off, "What?"

Kamina pointed to the ceiling, "Team Gurren will become the mightiest in all of the planet, no, the universe! Nothing will stand in our way, not even hell itself!"

All three of the girls in the room sighed in disbelief.

Kamina didn't care though, "So where is this base of yours?" He had a mad gleam in his eyes.

* * *

"We calibrated the data from the two mechas to Gurren, Lagann, and Saidden, you will be able to find Dai-Gunzan using your navigation systems." Leeron had immediately got to work after what they told him.

Dayakka had prepared some supplies for the group that could be stored in Gurren and Saidden, turns out Leeron and the Twins would be tagging along as well. He claimed that they might need a master mechanic and the Twins said they were good in the art of stealth. Simon wasn't sure if they were going to need something like that, but they let them come along with them just in case.

The Twins would be using their mechas Suterusa and Tasuin, which would allow for more combat ready members. Leeron was given a carrier for all of his belongings, which would be strapped to the back of Gurren.

They all gathered outside Littner, looking back on the village in sadness.

"Do you think we'll see it again?" Yoko looked at Simon.

He nodded and smiled, "We can do anything, we are Team Gurren after all."

She shook her head, "Don't take after that blockhead."

He chuckled, "Are you kidding."

Dayakka gave them all a fond farewell; he made sure to give Yoko her sniper before she left. "Good luck, I hope you guys will do well out there."

Kamina laughed, "Come on, this is Team Gurren, we won't fail, not even if it kills us!"

Dayakka chuckled, "Whatever you say, see you around."

They all waved as they approached their mechas, Yoko could feel a small tear escape from her eye and glide down her face. _I'll see you around._

* * *

**A/N: I think the chapters will most likely be anywhere between 1500-3000 words each time, that is within reasonable limits for my writing abilities.**

**Hope you enjoy and feel free to review the story, need all the feedback I can get one something like this!**


	7. Chapter 7: Encounter

Their march east started as soon as they left Littner, it quickly disappearing on the horizon. Lagann lead the group since he was the smallest, Simon didn't really know where he was going besides a straight line.

The night came quickly to the group making Kamina stop in his tracks, claiming that they would need rest in case they needed to fight gunmen in the morning. They all agreed and shut down their gunmen, making a camp around the large mechas.

Simon couldn't sleep though, the fire had already gone out and he was still up. He couldn't sleep; this was all still so new to him, his excitement from before returning to him in full force. He smiled up at the moon and held up his core drill, blocking it from view. _It is really amazing how far we've come in such a small amount of time._

They had only stayed in Littner for a little more than a week, but it had felt like they spent months there when they decided to leave. Simon lay down and continued to look at the drill; it radiated a small green glow even now. This made him take a look over at Lagann, who was sitting just nearby. Simon would have never thought he would find such a machine, but it still made him extremely happy.

Eventually Simon knew that he would need his rest, so he settled down on his bed and tried his best to sleep. The light of the moon cast a pale glow on his nearby compatriots, Kamina was snoring loudly, Leeron had some strange piece over his eyes, and the Twins were sleeping with their backs to him.

Yoko probably had fallen asleep the fastest of the group, he could see her face being lit up by the moon; it gave her a radiant beauty. She slept soundly, not snoring, perhaps not even moving, in truth she looked completely at peace.

Simon took one more look at the moon before he closed his eyes and waited for sleep to take him into the land of dreams.

* * *

The sun assaulted his eyes as it peeked over the mountains in the distance, covering them in an amber glow as the dawn approached. He opened his eyes slowly and looked at the sky. It was beyond beautiful, colors of all different kinds fused together to make an amazing display.

He got up and stretched, letting the sleep wash away from his body. Nearby Yoko and Leeron were making breakfast for the group; it smelled of Littner all over again. The Twins and Kamina were talking by Gurren, Kamina's face was serious, but it eventually broke into his usual expression.

"Your up." Leeron kept his eyes on the food; he worked with precision as he cooked the breakfast.

Yoko turned her head around, "Hey Simon, we'll have breakfast ready soon. Kamina wants to get going afterwards."

Simon got up and stretched once more and walked over to the two. Both he and Yoko watched as Leeron prepared the meal, it looked amazing.

"How do you know how to cook?" Simon was surprised that a mechanic would know how to cook as well.

"Natural talent." That was all Leeron said before he flipped one of the brown saucers up into the air and let it fall perfectly on a plate nearby.

Simon was in awe; he hadn't seen food like this back in Littner even. They were brown and tan, but smelled really sweet.

"What are they?" He gazed down at the concoction.

"Pancakes." Leeron smiled at them, "Eat up!"

Kamina was over in mere seconds, gorging down on the food that was given. Yoko and Simon moved away from Kamina for fear of pancake shrapnel hitting them. They ate their food quickly, but not as fast as him of course. They knew that gunmen would come eventually, that was something they couldn't stop.

"What if they can't track us?" Simon looked up at the sky, deep in thought.

Yoko looked at him, "What would make you say that?"

"Well, I think they can only track us simply because we were at Littner, they don't have any devices on Gurren, Lagann, or Saidden. I'm even sure that since the Spiral King didn't own the Twin's mechas that they are also not traceable." Simon scratched his chin.

Yoko nodded, "That could be true, but we still want to get moving nonetheless."

Simon nodded in agreement; he had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Not from the pancakes of course, but a different sort of feeling.

"Hey guys, lets get out of here, something doesn't feel right." The gang looked at him strangely, except for Yoko of course.

Kamina was the first to respond, "What do you mean?"

Simon shrugged, "Dunno, I think I'm going to scout ahead in Lagann."

Yoko got up from her seat, "I'll go with you, there's enough room in there for two right?"

"Yeah, come on." Simon climbed to Lagann's controls. He twisted his core drill and heard the engine come online.

"Welcome back Simon." Lagann's controls lit up.

"Thanks Lagann, you don't mind if Yoko comes along do you?"

"Of course not Simon."

Yoko climbed up into the gunman and the canopy closed over them. She sat right behind him, looking through the viewport.

Lagann rocketed off skywards, giving a much better view of the desert beyond. Apparently the feeling was right, just ahead were two gunmen, looking for them.

"We need to warn bro." He could see Yoko nod.

Lagann levitated above the ground by a few feet; Yoko jumped down and ran for Saidden.

"Bro, two gunmen, just ahead."

Kamina was immediately up and ready, running for Gurren. The others loaded into the carriage that was strapped to Gurren.

"Kamina, let Simon and I take care of this." Saidden pulled out two guns, one for each hand.

"What the hell are you talking about, ain't no way I'm letting you two get all the fun!"

"You are carrying passengers after all." Simon didn't doubt his brother, but others were involved now.

"They'll be fine, lets go!" Gurren ran off towards the direction of the gunmen.

"That meathead!" Saidden chased after Gurren.

Simon sighed and flew off, over the two gunmen.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, that was an extremely, and I mean extremely short chapter, but I needed setup for the next.**

**Sorry it's taken a bit for an update, summer has actually slowed down my writing more than its sped it up.**

**Make sure to leave a review; I'll still need that feedback!**

**Hope you enjoyed! See you all next chapter!**


	8. Chapter 8: The Plunge

Yoko could feel adrenaline coursing through her veins as their targets came into view. Leeron had just designed these new weapons for her so that she could keep some distance between her and them.

"We are now within firing range Yoko." Saidden's elegant voice spoke calmly through the speakers.

Yoko opened up on the two unsuspecting beastman, effectively taking them by surprise. She began to circle them, peppering their armor with gunfire, as Gurren slammed headlong into the closest one.

"Take that you bastards!" Kamina shouted through the group channel. Gurren smashed into the downed gunman with its fist, over and over.

Something didn't feel right to Yoko; the battle seemed to easy, almost as though they weren't even trying.

"I am detecting a weakness in the ground below, I suggest caution." Saidden's analysis caused the sniper to look at the earth beneath them. It was beginning to crack and split.

"Kamina, we need to get out of here!" Yoko leaped to the side of the collapsing hole.

"What are you talking about Yoko, we have these guys on the run!" As soon as Gurren punched the gunman once more the results were immediate, and Kamina was falling into the world below.

* * *

The digger had a great view of the battle and was impressed to see Yoko taking the lead with her new guns. It didn't surprise him in the slightest when he saw his brother crash into the gunman closest to him.

_That's one way of taking care of it._ Simon smiled.

Before he knew it Gurren was pounding into the helpless enemy, making him sigh. Yoko had already immobilized the other with her fire, but the one below Gurren was still trying to put up a fight.

"Kamina, we need to get out of here!" Yoko's voice blasted through the speakers, making Simon take a closer look at the battleground. The ground was cracking beneath Gurren; Saidden had already jumped out of the way.

Within a second the earth gave out and his bro, along with the wreckages of the two gunmen fell below. This troubled Simon, he wasn't really worried about his brother, but he still wanted to check in on the sudden drop.

"Yoko, what happened?" Lagann landed beside Saidden.

The female gunman shrugged, "Not sure, Saidden said that it was about to give way, but Kamina didn't listen."

Simon sighed once more, "We better check on him." His friend nodded in response.

Lagann was able to use the rockets to gently land at the bottom, Saidden on the other hand had to take the fall. Gurren was hunched over, the cockpit open, with the rest of Team Gurren grabbing things from the carrier.

"Simon, Yoko, what took you so long?" Kamina had a stupid grin on his face as Leeron continued to unload things for maintenance work.

Suterusa and Tasuin came just shortly after Lagann and Saidden landed; they were humored to say the least.

Eventually they got what they needed unloaded and Leeron began his work on Gurren. The other five gathered around a small fire they built.

"They didn't even see us coming." Kamina smiled proudly.

The younger one of the Twins sighed, "I doubt anyone would suspect a mecha ramming into them." This made her sister chuckle.

Kamina looked annoyed, "Oh yeah, where were you two?"

The older one shrugged, "Didn't get to finish out breakfast, if you would've waited a few minutes we might've been able to help you."

They sat in silence after Kamina shot another comeback at them. Something dawned on Simon as he sat near the warmth of the fire.

"Excuse me, but we never did get your names." Simon leaned forward and looked at the Twins.

The older one nodded, "Tara."

The younger one smiled, "Crystal."

* * *

Simon could see the light from above growing dimmer and dimmer, leading him to believe that the sun was setting in the world above. He looked at Team Gurren, Tara and Crystal had fallen asleep on each other, Kamina was busy glaring at a wall for some odd reason.

The only one that seemed off was Yoko; she was looking at the fire with an expression that Simon couldn't quite read.

He got up and sat down beside her, "Something wrong Yoko?"

Apparently this surprised her, as her head shot up. "Huh, what?"

Simon looked the sniper in the eye, "Something's bothering you, what's up?"

She relaxed and looked back at the fire, "Nothing really, just homesick."

Simon put his hands out behind him and looked at the small dot above.

"Yeah, I know the feeling."

Yoko looked at him with surprise, "I thought you and Kamina wanted to get out of your village more than anything?"

Simon nodded, "Well, yeah, but it was something that was familiar, something that I could rely on to be constant. This new world has already presented so many more challenges and discoveries than I would've ever have dealt with down below."

He grinned, "I've already met so many interesting people as well. Before no one even gave me the time of day, except for Kamina of course."

Yoko smiled, "I guess that is pretty great, it must've felt like a fresh start."

Simon nodded, "Yeah, but I still think about Jeeha from time to time, my old life. I wouldn't give this up for the world, meeting people like Crystal and Tara, Leeron, and you."

Yoko looked away slightly, her face reddening. "Thank you Simon."

"No, thank you Yoko." He put his back to the ground and closed his eyes.

* * *

_What a guy._ Yoko glanced at Simon several times after their conversation ended, he seemed so at peace with this new world. The homesickness for her from before had disappeared slightly, but it still was there.

She could see that Kamina was continuing to stare at the wall; Leeron had fallen asleep inside Gurren trying to get it fixed. _I had best get some shuteye as well._ She leaned back and stretched out by Simon, hoping that Kamina would keep watch on all of them.

After what the digger had said she could hardly believe all of the new that was presented to her when she met these two. Kamina the brash and hardheaded leader and Simon the quiet and determined brother. They had brought so much hope to them, even when it seemed like they weren't getting anywhere.

She turned her head to look at the Simon again, his breathing had slowed and his face looked extremely content. She couldn't help but smile at it, they had achieved so much in the little time that they have been here.

Now they were off to fight the Spiral King in his own territory, taking on the Five Generals without a second thought. Kamina had already planned to take Dai-Gunzan and who knows what next.

She curled up beside her friend, making herself as comfortable as possible and closed her eyes; sleep seemed to come swiftly after that.

* * *

**A/N: All right, first thing I must ask is if the pacing is off. I hate having a story feel like its moving much too quickly. But I don't want this to be drawn out as well, I was hoping that perhaps smaller chapters might be good, but it feels too choppy. What do you guys think? The whole names with the Twins feels sudden and forced, and quite frankly too late, but it had to be done.**

**Hope you enjoyed and sorry once again that I haven't updated in a while! But maybe two chapters can make up for it.**

**Make sure to leave your thoughts in the reviews, be that good or bad.**


	9. Chapter 9: Exploration

**A/N: Please read!**

**I need you as the reader to keep an open mind about this chapter, because this is the first time I've written like this!**

**When the fluff hits, and you know when it does, analyze it carefully. I don't want it to seem cliché, OOC, or anything of the sort. I get frustrated when that happens.**

**Sorry for the wait by the way. See you at the end of the chapter!**

* * *

Simon awoke with a shudder. His breath billowed out in front of him as he sat up and checked his surroundings. Everyone had fallen asleep and the fire that they had lit had nearly gone out, giving off no heat.

He stood up and stretched, walked over to the fire, and stoked the flames with a few sticks and branches that they had gathered along the way.

The digger sat down by his fire and warmed his hands since he couldn't feel his fingers. He gazed to the top of the chasm, there still wasn't any light coming from up above. _How are we going to get out of here?_

He looked at the mechas that were still operational; none of them had effective climbing gear except for Lagann and that was through improvising anyway. The small mecha could easily dig upwards, back to the surface, but the problem stood with the remaining four.

Gurren, once repaired, could combine with Lagann and dig to the surface, but the others couldn't.

Simon sighed, the members of Team Gurren were all still asleep, so he had no one to talk to. He decided to take a spin in Lagann. He quietly got up from where he was and walked over to the small mecha.

Lagann started up without too much noise, allowing the digger to creep down one of the tunnels on the far end of the chasm.

Once he was safely away from the camp, he pushed the speed to full throttle and propelled the machine down the tunnel. Its eyes lit up, illuminating the path in front of them.

Small bits of ore could be seen as he rocketed through the tunnel, each yielding a different color and shape.

The digger eventually closed the canopy on Lagann, it was getting cold and he didn't really want to get hit in the head.

"Approaching an obstacle, Simon." Lagann's voice was easily heard above the roar of the engines.

Simon smiled, "Then lets dig through it."

Immediately Lagann deployed two drills. The mecha slammed into the wall that stood ahead of them, never losing speed.

It ground through the rock with wicked ferocity. Simon kept pushing them deeper and deeper into the ground.

"Sensors indicate a large cavern ahead, Simon."

* * *

Back at the camp, Yoko had curled up in several blankets. The air in the chasm was freezing and her attire didn't help with her condition one bit.

Leeron had only been awake a few minutes before she had, getting breakfast ready for the motley crew. Up above, the dim glow of morning could be seen, but warmth wouldn't come with it.

The Twins and Kamina both were still asleep, considering the cold couldn't even stop them from getting their rest.

The sniper yawned, "Where's Simon?" She had noticed, when she woke up, that Lagann was gone.

Leeron shrugged, "Don't know. He probably went to explore."

Yoko pouted, "He could've at least told someone where he was going."

Leeron looked at her and smiled, "You?"

The sniper blushed, "No, someone. We don't want to get split up down here."

"How are the repairs coming?" She desperately tried to get the subject off of her.

The mechanic looked at Gurren, which was still in pretty rough shape, and frowned. "I still have a lot of work to do, it probably won't be ready till this evening."

Yoko stretched, "Well, we aren't going anywhere and the beastmen aren't either, so no worries."

Leeron cracked a few eggs and threw a few pieces of bacon into the pan that he had set out. The smell quickly wafted through the air, drawing the other three members over to the fire, even if they weren't fully awake.

"What's for breakfast?" Kamina groggily asked.

"Bacon and eggs. Hungry?" Leeron stirred the meal.

Kamina nodded slightly, "Always." He nodded off shortly after.

Yoko could hear something in the distance, coming from one of the tunnels. It started as something like a gust of wind, but quickly grew into a roar. Before whatever it was came into the cavern, it cut its engines.

Kamina jumped to his feet, katana in hand. Yoko chambered a round into her rifle. Metallic footsteps could be heard from the tunnel, it came closer and closer to exposing itself.

Yoko's finger was on the trigger, she was ready for a fight.

* * *

Simon fiddled with a small stone as Lagann guided himself back to the cavern. He could tell that they were close since Lagann cut the engines and proceeded on foot, probably not wanting to disturb Team Gurren all too much.

After a sudden lurch and a shout, Lagann, and the unsuspecting Simon, were sent into a tumble, flying into a nearby wall.

"What the hell?"

* * *

Only after she fired did she realize that she shot Lagann and in turn Simon. It took only about a second. She immediately dropped her rifle and ran over to the downed mecha.

"Simon? Are you ok?" She knocked on the canopy, her stomach twisted with worry.

She heard a mumble from inside.

She sighed, happy to hear him respond. "Sorry about that."

The canopy opened, startling her, and she fell inside, landing right on top of Simon. Her chest hit his back and made him slam face first into the ground.

She quickly got up and backed off, her face flushing with embarrassment.

The digger sat for a second then slowly got up once again and faced her. His nose was bleeding tremendously.

She wasn't sure what he was going to do, but she looked at the ground and blushed, not really wanting to meet his eye.

What surprised her was that Simon broke out into a fit of laughter, causing her to look back up at him.

His eyes and his smile were still, besides the blood, bright and happy.

All he could manage was, "Well, good morning!"

He continued to laugh and it caused her to break, she began to giggle as well, feeling like an absolute idiot.

"Good morning, Simon."

* * *

"Well, Gurren isn't going to be ready until this evening, at least." Leeron took a bite out of a small nutrition bar, while Kamina and the Twins gorged on the meal that he had made for them.

With the blood cleaned from his face, Simon simply shrugged. "There's not much to do, we'll just sit here a little longer."

"On the bright side, you'll get to explore some more." Crystal said through a bite of bacon.

Yoko forked her food a little bit, still feeling embarrassed for what happened. _I can't believe it, I fell right on top of him._

She was pushed a little bit from the side. Simon was looking at her with a sympathetic expression.

"Come on, you didn't mean to and I know that. Eat up, you won't be happy if you don't." Then he began to eat his meal.

She looked down at her plate and it did seem really enticing. Now feeling a little less guilt, she ate though her breakfast relatively quickly.

From there the members broke up, Kamina followed the Twins as they showed him their mechas, each arguing which one is better. Leeron had begun to work on Gurren and Yoko still sat by the fire.

She looked deep into the flames; entranced by the way they would curve and move. Even after what Simon said, why was she still so bothered by it? _He didn't seem mad by it, so why am I worrying so much?_

The sniper welcomed the warmth from the fire; she wished they were back on the surface so that she could feel the sun on her skin.

A poke in the side startled her from the trance. It was Simon.

He was smiling, "Come on, I have something I want to show you."

* * *

She couldn't believe the speed that Lagann was able to keep while underground without ramming into something.

"Approaching the chasm, Simon." The tunnel quickly became smaller, barely allowing Lagann through without a scratch. They kept descending downwards with the air outside becoming colder. They continued on until they flew into a large cave.

The cavern was magnificent and spacious. The light that Lagann provided continued on and on, never reaching an end.

"What is this place?" She gazed in awe.

Simon opened the canopy and hopped down from Lagann, "I found it this morning. Follow me."

A small lamp deployed from Lagann's side, allowing Simon to light their path. The ground they walked on was cold and hard, mist enveloping their feet.

"Lagann's sensors indicate that this cavern stretches on for miles, but what is really interesting is what's up ahead."

Simon put his arm out and stopped Yoko. Before them lay a vast lake, one that she couldn't believe was down there.

"There are loads of gemstones and other minerals within this cave, check it out." He cast the light upwards and so did Lagann.

The stones above seemed to react with the light and began to glow. The light spread from one stone to another, like a vast array of luminance. All different colors began to show and it was an astounding sight. Deep reds, bright blues, emerald greens, the cave became its own light show, leaving the two in wonder.

Yoko went down to the water's edge. "Simon, this is amazing!" She turned around and around, laughing all the while.

Simon blushed and scratched his head, happy that she was enjoying it. "Yeah, it is."

They sat down by the water to watch the crystals bounce the light back and forth. Simon, in all of his digging experience, all the work that he did in Jeeha, hadn't ever seen anything like this before.

Yoko smiled and sighed, "What do you think makes the crystals glow?" She leaned against the digger.

"I wouldn't know. I haven't seen this before." Simon looked up to the ceiling, his cheeks starting to heat up.

"Then you must be pretty lucky, finding this."

He grinned, "Maybe."

Yoko reached down and touched the water, "Its warm?"

Simon nodded, "Yup, Lagann says that the earth is actually warming this water. Almost like a hot spring."

Yoko looked at him with a strange expression, he wasn't sure if he liked it.

"Cannonball!" The sniper jumped down into the water, becoming completely submerged.

Simon shook his head and chuckled. _Always full of surprises._

Her head came up to the surface, she giggled. "Come on, the waters great."

"Nah, I don't really want to get my cloths wet."

He could tell that Yoko was messing with something below the surface. Two projectiles flew at him suddenly, these being her boots. Thankfully they missed.

The shorts came next and they hit his face dead center.

He looked at them; his face began to heat up.

The digger looked out at her, she had an extremely mischievous look on her face.

"You sure you don't want to come in?"

_To hell with this!_

The young man quickly stripped down to his shorts and jumped into the water. It was surprisingly warm.

When he came back up to the surface he could hear Yoko giggling again. "What changed your mind?"

He chuckled, "Oh nothing. I needed a bath anyway."

The sniper splashed water at him and swam away, her toned legs allowing her to get fair distance away.

Simon took off after her and she ran, laughing like a maniac. She had let her hair down and it flowed out behind her.

Simon managed to close the gap quickly, he was pretty sure that she wasn't even trying.

She turned around suddenly and he bumped into her. His head came to the surface and was met by a pair of brilliant amber eyes.

She giggled, "Having fun?"

"Not yet." He splashed her in the face and chuckled.

She mocked being disappointed, "Oh really?"

He nodded, "Yeah, this isn't that fun."

Yoko jumped on him and sent him under the water, taking him by surprise. He came back up to the surface gasping for breath.

"Good one." He sarcastically said.

"Come on, let's get back to shore." Yoko quickly paddled away, heading towards land.

* * *

They wrapped themselves inside Simon's jacket, trying to get warm.

"You know, putting back on your cloths would probably help." Simon said through quivering breaths.

Yoko scooted closer, "Nah, you're warmer than they are."

Simon hadn't ever dreamed of being this close to a girl, but here he was. Her skin felt silky on his, it was heaven.

"You're getting awfully warm Simon, you sure you're alright?" She put a hand to his forehead.

He nodded quickly, "Yeah, I'm fine."

She put an arm around him, "Then I'll take advantage of that."

He froze at her touch, he couldn't believe how he was acting all of a sudden.

"You know I don't bite."

He saw Yoko looking at him slyly.

"What do you mean?"

She took her other arm and made him drape his over her shoulder. She then snuggled up to him.

"There we go, much better." She sighed contently.

He chuckled nervously, not really sure how to react. "Sure, yeah."

* * *

They sat in each other's warmth for quite some time, drying off and feeling better than before. Each was quiet, Yoko out of peace and contentment, Simon out of nervousness.

He eventually embraced it and held Yoko closer, might as well not be awkward.

After a while the sniper spoke, "Do you think we're going to win?"

Simon's gaze fell on her, she was looking out at the water, her eyes sad.

"Of course. I think we're capable of anything." His voice was filled with determination.

Her expression didn't change, "In all the years that I lived in Littner, never did we think of fighting back. Fighting beyond our borders. What made you guys want to go?"

Simon leaned back, "I'm not entirely sure, we just knew that we couldn't stay in Jeeha anymore. That much was certain."

Yoko pouted, "I just don't see how you are so laid back about this. It won't be easy."

The digger chuckled, "Are you kidding? I'm so nervous about this whole ordeal. Kamina and I were underground, never moving, just a few days ago."

She fell flat beside him, watching the crystals. "Well, you're either brave or stupid, I can't really tell which."

He smiled, "Probably a little of both."

* * *

Simon's eyes opened slowly, the lights still dancing above him. _I must've dozed off._

He felt a familiar warmth against his side. Yoko was curled up against him, her arms wrapped around his waist. She had basically became entangled with him. He could feel the heat rising to his face. _Looks like I'm not the only one._

The digger checked his watch carefully, they had been away for almost three hours.

He truly didn't want to get up, with Yoko looking so content and him now appreciating her warmth, but he knew they had to.

"Yoko?"

She remained asleep.

"Yoko?" He poked her exposed side and this of course did the trick.

The sniper jumped up in a frenzy, acting like a thing possessed. "What in the world?" She had his jacket around her.

Simon got to his feet, "You dozed off."

She looked around, remembering where she was. "Oh yeah."

He pointed towards Lagann, "We need to be heading back, considering that we've been away for a couple of hours."

The red head seemed surprised at this, "Really?"

He nodded. "You got a little something right there." He pointed to his own face and smiled.

The sniper felt her face and wiped the drool off of it, feeling completely embarrassed.

Simon walked over to the waiting Lagann; it hadn't shut down even while they were sleeping.

The digger turned around to be greeted by Yoko putting her shorts back on. He had a full view of everything, so he frantically tried to find something else to watch.

It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life.

He immediately felt guilt, not believing he had looked, he felt like such a pervert.

_That was so inappropriate! You should've just waited, you knew that she had to get dressed!_

_But it was so nice, did you see how toned those legs were._

_Shut up! That was wrong and you know it!_

_Absolutely not, you're a man, and you know it._

_Well there are better ways to go about it._

_Did you see that…_

_Don't you say it!_

_Perfectly rounded…_

_Stop it!_

_Pristine…_

_Cut it out!_

_Flawless…_

_I will kill you!_

_Ass._

_Now you've done it!_

_And that thong, all red and lacy…_

_Damnit! I said shut up, you perverted little subconscious!_

_You know you liked it._

_No, absolutely not._

_Yes you did._

_No I didn't!_

_Yes you did._

_All right! Maybe just a little._

_Yeah, I knew it._

He turned back around and looked at Lagann. Giving it something that said. _Not a word, to anyone! _Even though the mecha didn't hear anything.

He grabbed a hold of Lagann, ready to jump in, but was interrupted by Yoko hugging him from behind.

"Thanks Simon, this was really awesome. I enjoyed it." He could feel two soft things pressing into his back.

_Aww yeah!_

_Shut up!_

Simon turned beet red. "Y-yeah. No problem."

_Nailed it bro. That was smooth._

_Be quiet damnit!_

As Lagann flew towards the exit the lights followed them out of the cave, almost as if they were saying goodbye.

* * *

The ride back was silent, neither of them had much to say. They both didn't want the others to worry about them.

Simon couldn't help but think about Yoko. She had seemed so peaceful curled up beside him.

Never before had he even dreamed about sleeping next to a girl from Jeeha, all of them treated him like dirt.

The thought of him and Yoko made his heart beat just a little faster.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when said girl poked him on the shoulder. Her expression was curious.

"You ok? What are you thinking about?"

Simon immediately looked away, suddenly feeling embarrassed. "Oh, nothing."

She smiled slyly and poked him again, "Come on, what is it?"

He chuckled nervously, "Really, its nothing."

This made her pout, "Alright, keep your secrets."

Lagann landed just inside the tunnel and trudged into the cavern. They were both surprised by the sight ahead of them. Dressed in white were several dozen villagers, all crowded around the campfire.

* * *

Simon quietly sat down, with Yoko right beside him, and listened as Kamina talked to what seemed to be the leader of this group.

"What are you doing down here, that was the question that you still haven't answered." The old man looked and sounded frustrated, Simon could tell that he and Kamina had been at it for at least a few minutes.

"Why should I tell you? You might be some sort of spy for the Spiral King."

The elder's face became surprised, "What?"

"Yeah, who's to say that you aren't reporting to the Spiral King?" Tara looked at him skeptically.

The elder sighed, clearly exhausted. "We aren't spies, I can guarantee that. All I need to know is why you are here."

Before Kamina could make another smart comment, Leeron butted in.

"We only need to repair Gurren, after that we can leave."

A young boy spoke up, his hair black and pulled into a long ponytail. "Gurren?"

Kamina nodded, "Yeah, that big guy over there." He pointed to his half repaired mecha.

The chief looked at Kamina, almost angrily. "I must ask you to leave. Now."

Kamina stood up, "Yeah, well, we can't get out of here until Gurren is all fixed up. Even then, we don't have a way out."

The chief glanced at Gurren, "How long before you've finished?"

Leeron shrugged, "Several hours more at least, if I had better equipment it would be quicker."

Crystal butted in, "We could also use some supplies if you have any to spare."

The chief shook his head and sighed, "We will give you what we can, I will show you the way out, and I expect you to never return."

* * *

Simon, Crystal, and Yoko were in charge of getting supplies from these people's village. It didn't take three people considering that Lagann carried the load for them. They had a crate of edible fungi, some medicine, and water, but not much else.

Kamina, Tara, and Leeron were busy trying to get Gurren repaired; although Leeron did most of the work, Kamina and Tara made sure that none of the villagers bothered him in the meantime.

What intrigued Simon the most about these people was their belief in these Face Gods. The young boy, name Rossiu, showed them their primary Face God. It was an ancient looking machine, probably several hundred years old.

They said that the Face Gods provided everything that they would need, no matter what. The whole idea puzzled Simon, considering machines couldn't do such as this.

He and Yoko met two young kids as they were loading the crates, a boy and a girl, named Gimi and Dari. They both were very enthusiastic about visitors, wanting to know everything possible, which they didn't mind sharing.

Crystal met back up with Kamina and Tara who were still keeping the villagers away from Leeron.

The evening drew on and Leeron still hadn't finished with the repairs. Simon sat on a small boulder, overlooking the camp. He had finished all of his tasks and was content with watching everyone else now.

His eyes kept tracking to Yoko, no matter how many times he would keep an eye on something else. She was playing with Gimi and Dari; all three of them were enjoying themselves. He smiled at the sight; there could still be peaceful and happy times during an era that was so dark.

"Aww, that is so cute!"

This broke his focus and slip of the rock, right down onto his face. Again.

He rubbed his nose and saw Crystal looking at him. "What are you talking about?"

She smirked, "I saw you, eyeing the sniper."

He could feel his stomach turn, "Its not what you think!" He waved his hands around.

This made her grin even more, "I cannot wait to tell Tara." She then skipped off.

"No wait!" But she had already bolted off.

_Damn it…_

* * *

Simon tried to get that little encounter off of his mind, but he couldn't. The digger tried everything. Working on Gurren with Leeron, eating, watching the small bit of sky move, messing with Lagann, but nothing stopped him from feeling nervous.

_Why should I be?_ He closed the canopy and hid inside Lagann, trying to disappear.

_Its not like it's a big deal, right? I can look at her without it being like… that, right?_

"Simon?"

It was the last voice he wanted to hear right now.

The canopy opened and the digger sat up. "Yes?" _Please Crystal, don't have told her._

Yoko was standing in front of him with Gimi and Dari close beside her. "These two wants to show us something."

_Thank God!_

He smiled, "Sure."

Gimi jumped up and down, "Alright, awesome!"

They followed the excited children to a large room, every single member of the village had gathered there.

Yoko leaned down and rubbed Dari's head, "What is this?"

"A ritual."

Simon was puzzled, "For what?"

Gimi grinned, "To see who gets to go to the world above!"

* * *

**Gah! I don't know how to end these things! I tried to make the length a little more than standard to help with the long absence. Hope it isn't feeling too quick or choppy, because that's how it felt to me.**

**School and a new job can be quite a pain. I hope the characters don't feel cataclysmically OOC, but it seemed as though I did all right.**

**How was that fluff? Nothing like a little bit of Yoko and Simon, huh? I thought Simon talking to himself would be quite funny, little angel and devil action, what did you think? No seriously, what did you think?**

**For the record, don't think that Simon or I are perverts, we're just guys. (Still unacceptable.) Just would like to make that clear.**

**I really would like to know what you guys think. I'm not really the greatest with romance, or fluff in general, but the only way to improve is to work with it, right? My greatest fear in all my writing is that I am rushing things or doing something wrong. I had to go back through this chapter and make sure I was satisfied with what I put in it, at least three times.**

**Real quick, I would like to tell you Crystal and Tara's attire/appearance, considering I haven't done so before, or perhaps stated clearly. Understand that even though I call them twins, they aren't exactly alike. Sorry if that throws you off.**

**Crystal:**

**Skin color: White**

**Eye color: Pacific Blue**

**Hair color: Brown**

**Pants: Black jean shorts**

**Shirt: Skin tight, black, short sleeved.**

**Overcoat: Fur and leather jacket**

**Weapons: Knives**

**Tara:**

**Skin color: Tanned**

**Eye color: Emerald**

**Hair color: Burgundy**

**Pants: Khaki cargo shorts**

**Shirt: Loose, grey, short sleeved.**

**Overcoat: Windbreaker**

**Weapon: .45 Pistols**

**Make sure to leave a review, I really enjoy the feedback and encouragement you guys give! My grammar and such will always need tweaking...**

**Thank you, thank you, thank you, for the continued support!**


	10. Chapter 10: Decisions

**A/N: Please forgive the shortness of this chapter!**

* * *

Simon and Yoko quietly follow Gimi as he skipped down one of the hallways towards the ritual center. By the time they had made it in, the entire village plus Team Gurren were standing quietly.

The chief stood on a platform with several candles beside him, "It is time for the Face God to decide which of us have been chosen to rise to the world above."

Gimi quickly disappeared, running towards the front.

Simon leaned towards Yoko, "What do you think of this? It sounds pretty crazy to me."

She shook her head, "I don't know what to think, I just know that it isn't right."

Simon nodded in agreement.

The chief raised a cup above his head, "I must ask that each citizen only choose one, please file in. Whoever gets the straw with the mark has been chosen, rejoice."

The process was quiet, each villager picking out one of the sticks and sighing with relief. It ended with Rossiu drawing, then the chief, and finally Gimi and Dari.

"Hooray! We got chosen!" These were the first words to erupt from Gimi's mouth as he stepped down from the platform. Simon's blood ran cold in this dark realization and Yoko clearly had the same reaction plastered onto her face.

Everyone in the village looked at the two kids with pity, but none made any movement to prevent them from having to leave.

Kamina's voice quickly broke the silence, "What the hell is this old man!" He jumped up onto the platform and stood toe to toe with the chief.

"You would just make two kids like these go up to the surface?" He nearly spat on him.

The chief in turn replied evenly, "What would you have us do? Since you are so wise, what would you have us do?"

Kamina faltered at this.

"We barely have enough supplies to keep our village alive and we cannot risk having anymore than we can handle, even if it does mean that some must be sacrificed." The old man looked saddened at this.

Gimi and Dari ran up to Yoko, "Look, look! We were chosen!"

The sniper was close to crying, their innocence about the situation making her feel a strong sense of grief.

"There is another way."

Everyone looked at Rossiu, who was now standing beside the chief, all astonished by his response.

"Take us with you, Gimi and Dari will have protectors in the world above."

Kamina looked at the black haired boy in surprise, "Is that so, what about you forehead, why do you want to go?"

He looked at his chief with respect, "I have lived here all my life and have always wanted to see the surface, ever since I read about it in books. Before now I didn't think it was possible, but you have shown me that the world above can be a new life with the stories that have been shared by your crew."

Kamina scratched his chin; "You do realize it will be dangerous, only the hardiest of men can fight with Team Gurren."

Rossiu nodded, "I am willing to take the risk!"

This made the leader chuckle, "Well alright then, you seem spirited enough."

"Will this be alright with you?" Rossiu looked to his chief for approval.

The man shook his head, "I only pray that you will be safe, it is your choice how to live your life."

Gimi cheered once again, "Yay! We get to go to the surface!" He grabbed onto the bottom of Simon's coat.

* * *

"I have given you what we have and I hope that you will be wise as you were here." The chief handed some rations and a few books to Rossiu as he loaded up with Team Gurren.

"We'll take care of him old man, don't you worry!" Kamina spoke from the controls of Gurren, now fully repaired.

"I will show you the way out, since it doesn't seem that you have any climbing gear." The chief motioned towards one of the passageways.

Gurren turned towards the other mechas, "Ready to go?"

All of them nodded in return.

Lagann floated about waist high to Gurren, Simon sighed from within the small mecha. _Will we ever come back here again? That cave was too good to forget…_ He thought about his time with the sniper in the cave and blushed furiously.

"Hey Simon." Yoko had opened a private channel with the digger.

He quickly shook his head, "Yeah, what's up Yoko?"

"Next time, I would be a little less obvious if you're going to catch a look." She winked at him. He nearly passed out inside Lagann.

"We need to remember this place, when this is all over." The sniper smiled at him.

He nodded, "Alright, it's a date." _Damnit! You shouldn't have said that!_

"Oh Simon, getting bold are we?" She giggled.

* * *

"Goodbye, thanks for everything!" Team Gurren shouted back to the villagers. They waved back in turn.

"Lets go bozos! The Spiral King won't be dethroned by himself!"

* * *

**Yeah, yeah, I know that was pretty lousy, but I couldn't see how I would do anything else with the village and all of that. I know it was pretty rushed and I hope you will forgive me for it along with the shortness of the chapter itself.**

**Thank you for you're continued support and I hope that I remain satisfactory with my writing!**

**I wish everyone a merry Christmas and hope that your year will be bright. **

**Pierce the heavens with your drills and fight the good fight!**


	11. Chapter 11: Supplies

Simon sighed once again as they gazed over an expanse of desert, it had already been a few hours and Team Gurren still hadn't found any sign of Dai-Gunzan.

"What do you mean you don't know where it is?!" Kamina shouted over their channel.

Tara shrugged, "We told you it moved, we gave you the most current data we had."

"They could be right on top of us and we wouldn't even know it!" Kamina huffed.

"Well, it couldn't have moved far, we know that much." Crystal stated optimistically.

Simon disengaged Lagann from Gurren, "Bro, I'm going to take a look around. I'll be back in a bit." The small gunman floated above its taller counterpart for a few moments before rocketing off.

"Be careful, Simon!" Gurren put his thumb up, motioning to Lagann.

* * *

_How can there be no trace of a large mobile base? _Lagann floated lazily around the proximity of Gurren but still no sign of Dai-Gunzan was found and he had been at it for quite a while, the sun had already gone down.

Yoko popped up beside him, "Kamina wants you back soon, we're going to be having dinner." She looked worried.

"I'll be there in a bit." He smiled at the sniper.

She gave him a small smile, "Alright, see you then." The communications link went dead after she finished.

_Damnit, what if they are waiting for us? What if this is all a trap?_ He shook his head nervously as Lagann turned back towards Team Gurren's encampment. Little did he know that a small rabbit shaped gunman was watching him from a distance, it slowly slinked back into the shadows and retreated into its hole.

* * *

"Man, do you guys stink!" Crystal scooted away from Rossiu.

He looked puzzled, "What do you mean?"

Yoko sighed, "When was the last time you took a bath or brushed your teeth?"

"Not once." He became sheepish.

"Well I have no idea what you're talking about! I smell fine!" Kamina bolstered.

Tara's face scrunched up, "Are you kidding?! All of you guys reek!"

Kamina put his nose close to his armpit, his face quickly paled afterwards. "Okay, maybe we do need a little cleaning up, but where are we supposed to find a bath in the middle of the desert?"

Lagann, who set down close to the camp, interrupted their conversation. Simon jumped down from the cockpit with a sad expression.

"Manage to find anything?" Yoko looked hopeful.

He shook his head and sat down beside Kamina, his face turning just a little bit more rotten. "Nothing. I would've thought that there would be evidence of such a large base, but there wasn't. Its really frustrating to say the least."

Kamina patted him on the back, "Well cheer up, the foods almost ready and we'll go out and find them tomorrow."

Simon seemed a little happier by this, but it didn't affect his mood all too much.

* * *

"Dig in!" Leeron stated enthusiastically, impressed by the spread that he made for the exhausted group.

Like a pack of frenzied piranhas they tore into the food, never saying a word until they had finished, Kamina being the first.

He patted his stomach happily, "You outdid yourself Leeron, I don't think I've been stuffed like that since we were at Littner!"

The mechanic turned cook sighed, "Well you better enjoy it, that was the last of our supplies."

Simon looked at him in surprise, "You're kidding?"

Leeron shook his head, "Someone will need to go and find food tomorrow, we won't have anything to eat if something isn't found."

Yoko raised her hand, "I volunteer."

Crystal followed close behind her and Simon finished it off, anymore than three people would expend more resources than the team had at the moment.

"You'll set out first thing in the morning, I saved a little for you guys before you go so don't worry about going with empty stomachs."

"Thanks Leeron!" The three were relieved by this fact.

"Now go get some rest, you'll be needing it in the morning." Leeron quickly sent them away.

On his way to Lagann, Simon encountered Crystal.

"Hey, if you give me your portion of food tomorrow I'll let you have some alone time with the sniper." She grinned cheekily.

The digger's face quickly turned red, "Are you kidding?"

She shook her head, "Nope, I'll cut away and you get to be alone with Yoko."

He quickly turned away. _What do you think?_

_I think hell yeah! Who cares if you go without food!_

_Are you sure?_

_Dude, quit being a puss and accept it!_

_But I don't really want to go hungry._

_Hey, if you do get hungry you know what you could eat?_

…_I'm not going to answer that._

He looked back at Crystal, "Alright, but I get to keep the bacon."

She giggled, "How cute, I accept."

"Don't go back on your end of the deal."

She saluted, "Of course!"

"Goodnight, Crystal."

"Goodnight Simon!" She walked away.

* * *

Yoko almost wanted to shout with joy, but she had to keep her cover. She had been hiding behind a pile of rock and rubble while Simon and Crystal talked. Originally she wasn't going to eavesdrop, but as soon as Crystal stated the deal, she had to hear Simon's answer.

_Hell yeah!_ She almost skipped back towards Saidden and fist pumped the air.

_Calm down, you're getting yourself worked up._

_Shut up! You can't kill my happiness right now!_

Needless to say, Yoko went to bed with a smile plastered on her face.

* * *

The sun hadn't even risen before Simon got up. He walked over to the fire and stoked the flames like he always did, he felt restless. No dreams had come to him the previous night and he awoke with a crick in his neck.

_I need to get a bed installed in that damn thing._ He thought grumpily, but was quickly hit by a small rock. He turned towards his gunman in surprise, the machine hadn't moved.

"Well, you're awake early." Yoko and Leeron approached the fire quietly.

He chuckled, "Couldn't sleep."

"Well I hope you got enough rest." Leeron quickly set to cooking the food for the three.

"You think we're going to find anything?" Yoko sat down close to the digger, almost too much for his level of comfort.

"I do, but it might take a while." He scratched his head nervously.

She wrapped her arm around his side, "Sounds good."

Leeron looked at the two and shook his head, a smile creeping to his face. _Ah, young love. How awkward and touching!_

Crystal only took a few minutes before she came to the fire, yawning all the while.

"Well it isn't much, but I hope you enjoy." The mechanic presented their meal to them.

Simon slyly slid Crystal most of his portion, leaving only the bacon, but Yoko managed to notice and it made her smile.

"I would suggest you three split into different directions, but its up to you what you do." Leeron left them to their meal.

"I think I'll head north, maybe I can find something there." Crystal stretched after she finished.

"Simon and I will head west, stay away from Dai-Gunzan's beacon, we don't want to be captured or ambushed."

Simon nodded at this.

Crystal smiled, "Agreed, good luck!" She quickly ran off to her gunman and charged north.

The digger couldn't help but chuckled at his friend's behavior, he looked forward to time for just him and Yoko. His thoughts traced back to their experience in the cave, with the light shining of the water and her shoulders, her amber eyes meeting his. His face heated quickly and a goofy grin spread across it.

"Well, we had better get going. Don't want the day to go to waste." Yoko got up and brushed off her butt.

"Sounds good, I'll watch from above and you work down below."

She nodded, "You could always connect to Saidden sometime, you know, just to see what would happen."

Simon was surprised, "What, like Gurren Lagann?"

"Yeah, Saidden Lagann, kind of catchy don't you think."

_Not really…_

_Shut up!_ "Yeah, it kind of is." He chuckled.

* * *

**A/N: So the search begins…**

**Well if you haven't already noticed, I'll be using material from episode six soon, plenty of hot springs goodness to come.**

**I hope to keep the updates more consistent and I hope you enjoyed! As always, I hope you enjoyed and wish your holidays to be the best they can! :D**

**P.S: I might change the rating just for that little sentence there in the chapter, what do you think?**

**P.P.S: Make sure to point out any grammar errors in this chapter and the previous ones, I want to make sure they're fixed! Thank you!**

**P.P.P.S: Sorry if it seems a bit short, but I promise the next chapter will be considerably longer! :D**


	12. Chapter 12: Springs

**A/N: I would just like to get this quick note out thanking everyone for the ten 10,000 views on my story, this has to be my most successful one by far! More to come at the end.**

* * *

Simon and Yoko returned to the camp tired and frustrated, their search hadn't been gone well. They managed to recover some minor supplies like water and food since they stumbled across a spring, it would only be enough to last about a day.

Kamina shrugged as they gave him their report, "There isn't much else that can be done. We'll just try again tomorrow." He gave them a thumb up.

The digger sighed, "That still doesn't change the fact that we didn't find anything useful."

"Quit worrying about it, if you didn't, you didn't, supplies don't just magically appear Simon!" Kamina frowned at his bro's downbeat behavior.

"Okay, alright. Any idea where Crystal is?" Simon knew that she had split earlier in the day, but he couldn't shrug the feeling that he and Yoko were being watched for a good portion of the day. Every time he would turn around, however, whatever it was scurried away before he could even get a good look at it.

Yoko, who sat beside him, looked around briefly, "Nope, she'll probably be back soon, she couldn't have gotten too far."

"I don't know, we've never seen the full capabilities of her mecha." Leeron appeared almost out of thin air beside the leader of Team Gurren messing with a mechanism in his hands.

Tara also approached the fire, "Do you think we should go search for supplies tonight? Kamina and I could take care of it and it would allow you all to rest."

Leeron nodded slowly at the thought, beastmen never operated at night, so that would probably be their best bet.

"We'd have enough people and mechas to defend the camp if need be, I think Rossiu could be a fighter if he had to, but the likelihood of beastmen attacking at night is slim. You aught to be fine."

Kamina stood, "Well, lets get going!" He thrust his fist into the air.

The rest of the group was surprised by his action, "What if Crystal finds something?"

"Then we'll find you guys and meet up later, but the more time we spend sitting, the less time we have to succeed!" He smiled affirmatively.

"That isn't really out of the question, we would just have to install a beacon on Gurren. That wouldn't take but a few minutes." Leeron slowly began to walk over to the waiting gunman. Tara and Kamina followed closely behind.

Rossiu had been listening from a few feet away and approached the fire when the others left. "You think they'll find anything?"

Simon shuffled the fire around, watching the flames leap up into the waiting night sky. _If we're split up, then what happens if the beacon fails? Or if they get injured? Or they get killed?!_

_Quit your worrying!_

Simon grunted. _No you again._

_Oh you bet your britches I'm back, we're both the same person! I'm just the awesome side of us._

_Okay Mr. Awesome, what do you think?_

_Kamina couldn't perish by an ambush; it wouldn't be fitting for someone of his caliber and reputation._

_What makes you so sure?_

_Dude, have you seen him fight? He's a total badass!_

This made the digger nod. _Good point, but that doesn't mean he's invincible._

_So what? If he gets in trouble we and Hotbutt over there will go and bail him out, that's what brothers are for._

_Hmm, alright… Wait, what?_

He could almost see his subconscious smirk. _You know what I'm talking about._ The digger quickly turned red after this.

"Of course they'll find something since they're so bullheaded they'll have high chances of running into something." Yoko sipped on some coffee that she had made over the fire and offered each of them a cup of the earthy liquid.

Rossiu smelled curiously, took a sip, and proceeded to spit it halfway across the camp due to the heat. "Hot, hot, hot!"

Both Simon and Yoko looked at him in surprise and amusement, they broke into laughter after a few seconds with the younger member joining in shortly after.

* * *

The fire had died down slightly since the members that were still at camp didn't want to waste precious fuel. The coals still burned hot, but the flames were only licking the wood and jumping from log to log.

They heard a ruckus come from close by, the sound of a mecha. By the time it was parked and shut down, they had barely been able to stand. Crystal enthusiastically ran over to them.

"You wouldn't believe what I found you guys! We need to go ASAP!" A goofy grin was plastered onto her face.

* * *

It had only taken them a few short minutes to gather the few things they had and get them into the carriage, Saidden taking the weight instead of Gurren. Crystal lead them through vast caverns with the pale moonlight casting a grey glow across the surface.

"You guys are going to love it!" Crystal was still giddy from her find apparently.

Simon raised an eyebrow, "Well could you at least tell us where or what it is, or at least how far it is from here?" Lagann flew overhead to watch for anything suspicious.

She shook her head, "Nope, we'll get there when we get there."

The digger could see a thick fog rolling in ahead of them; it covered the ground for miles. "We best watch where we are in that fog."

"No worries, Simon! I know where I'm headed." Suterusa lead the pack with Saidden following close behind.

"What do you think Lagann?" Simon quietly spoke to his mecha.

"This region is unknown to me, the mountainous terrain would give the enemy a great advantage over those on the ground if they were to ambush us." Lagann's voice was deep and plain.

"Whatever you say, can you scan the area?"

The console blinked twice, "Of course, sir."

Simon set the mecha to autopilot, that being it'd follow Saidden, and fell back into his thoughts.

_If we're too far from Gurren and Tasuin there is a bigger chance that something could go wrong, why does this place have to be so far away?_

_Hey, if something comes along, we'll just bust right through it! That's the way Team Gurren rolls, right?_

_Yeah, you're right._

_Damn right I am._

The cockpit was open so that Simon could see the outside better and the night was beautiful. The stars were exceptionally bright and seemed closer than ever. He chuckled slightly for no particular reason.

"Saidden and Suterusa are now entering the fog cloud, Simon." Lagann spoke quietly.

Simon leaned forward and saw the two mechas turn on their fog lights. "Are you going to be able to keep an eye on them?"

"Of course."

* * *

It took them almost another hour to arrive at the supposed destination and the team wasn't too impressed.

"Here it is." Crystal's mecha motioned proudly ahead.

The fog was even thicker than before and Lagann landed beside Saidden. "What is?"

Crystal looked back to where she was pointing, "Damnit, freaking fog." She motioned to come forward.

The results were immediate. The fog stopped just a few short feet ahead of them revealing an extremely large bathhouse; it contrasted the nearby mountainside with its bright red and gold scheme.

"A bathhouse?" Rossiu stated skeptically over the communications line.

Crystal nodded, "Yup, what do you think?"

Saidden took a quick look around and noticed a tall woman standing on the threshold of the building.

"Ah, if it isn't the famous Team Gurren!" She oiled out.

Simon quickly went on the defensive, "How do you know us?"

"Your friend told me while she was here." The woman motioned to Suterusa.

"Oh yeah, what do you do here?" Yoko, too, seemed suspicious.

"We offer a place of rest and resupply for those who are in need, it's very rare that we see other humans on the surface. Come in, come in." She slowly walked inside and showed she wanted them to follow her.

Simon looked up at Saidden, "What do you think Leeron?"

"We need the assistance and we can always bail if we need to. I wouldn't worry about it too much, they have food." With that, the entire team's stomachs growled.

The digger looked back at the bathhouse, "I guess it won't hurt, just this once."

* * *

They were greeted by large amounts of cute girls when they came in, all of them trying to meet both Simon and Rossiu. Yoko seemed rather frustrated by this outcome since Leeron, Crystal, Gimi, Dari, and her were forgotten in the process. The digger and his friend weren't really comfortable with the girls, to say the least.

"Please, enjoy the food and retire for a bath afterwards. We have already gotten supplies to your mechas." The woman was much taller than she had seemed outside, easily six or seven feet tall.

The food was exquisite and was spread out on a large table, they all dug in immediately.

Since Leeron sat close to Simon, he leaned in towards the mechanic, "Did you contact Kamina?"

Leeron nodded, "With they way they sounded, they will probably be along shortly."

The digger looked at his empty plate and patted his belly, "If they don't hurry up, there might not be enough when they get here." He watched as everyone but Rossiu gorged on the feast that was bestowed to them.

"How dare you bozos forget about me! The great and powerful Kamina!" Said person nearly appeared out of thin air when he was spoken about. He rushed to a seat and quickly began devouring everything that was in front of him. Tara followed more politely, sat down, and began to eat as well.

_How the hell did he do that?_

_You tell me…_

_I thought you were supposed to be the awesome one?_

_I am, but not the smart one._

They weren't the only ones at the table, three girls were also eating to their hearts content, but they kept eyeing them, especially Kamina.

Since Simon had nothing better to do, he figured that it would be best to start a conversation with said girls.

"Might I ask who you are?" Simon stated politely, effectively catching their attention.

Their eyes lit up and they all stated simultaneously, "We're the Black Siblings! Kinon, Kiyal, and Kiyoh!"

A man sitting beside them grunted, "And I'm Kittan, the leader of the Black Siblings." He belched loudly.

"Okay, how did you guys get here?" Simon was always curious about others, it helped him get to know them better.

"Oh, you know, we traveled here and there and finally got to this place." Kittan stated plainly, obviously bored with the conversation.

The digger knew that he would just annoy the man if he questioned any further and just let him be. The girls seemed friendly enough, but if that man was there brother then he would have rightful cause to be protective and gritty. They were very beautiful.

_Or he's just totally into incest and doesn't want you trampling on his…_

_Enough brain! I don't need any of that._

"Once you are done here, why don't you enjoy our hot springs!" One of the girls happily told the table.

Kamina looked at her, "Hot springs?"

She nodded, "A place where you can let your worries go and clean up in the process."

A spark shot through Kamina's eye, "Lets go!"

* * *

"Yeah, woohoo, this is great…" Kamina sulked in the water as a giant wall separated them from the other side of the springs, that being where the girls were bathing. Kittan had opted to go to bed as opposed to taking a bath, something that Simon wasn't so bothered with, that brother had seemed a little bitter towards him.

Rossiu had also disappeared, so it was just him, Kamina, and Gimi.

He was enjoying it, even if his bro wasn't, "This is awesome, isn't it bro?"

Simon could see Kamina nod slightly and then look up towards the sky. It was high overhead and was reflected perfectly in the water of the spring.

"You think we'll ever make it there Simon?"

He looked at his bro curiously, "What? Where?"

Kamina pointed upwards, towards that giant ball of light in the sky, "There!" He climbed on a nearby boulder and let the wind catch his hair.

"I don't know bro, I'm not even sure if that's possible."

"What have I told you Simon?" Kamina stated brightly.

"I dunno, what?" Simon just wanted to hear what his brother had to say.

"Kick logic out and do the impossible. That's the way we roll." The leader was as calm as could be.

"Right." The digger chuckled.

A long silence followed their conversation, only the wind providing any noise, until.

"Wow Crystal, you look amazing!" One of the Black Siblings shouted.

"What? What're you talking about?" They could hear her say shyly.

"They're just so round!" _Round?!_

"Yeah, well yours are super perky!" _Perky?!_

"Look at Yoko's! I'm surprised she can walk around the way she does all day without being embarrassed. They're so perfect!" _Perfect?!_

Kamina went into a frenzy, "We need to get in there Simon, use your drill!"

Simon looked at the wall for a second, doubt filling his mind. _What if they see?_

_What if they don't?_

_I'll be dead for sure if I drill out too much._

_But it would be worth it._

_You think?_

_To see Yoko? Yeah._

_Seriously?_

_Dude, what do you think I'm going to tell you?_

…_Stop being a puss._

Simon brandished his drill and began to drill quickly, but controllably, until he had manage to drill a hole as large as a quarter in size. Kamina was busy climbing a tree trying to get a view over the wall.

He couldn't really see anything due to the steam, but what really interested him was the conversation.

"So, what do you think of that Simon boy?" He could hear Crystal pretty clearly, he just didn't know who she was speaking to.

"I don't know, he's pretty sweet." _Who was that?_

"He's not as brave as his brother, but he still has some guts." _That has to be Tara._

"What about you Yoko?" Something busted within Simon at that very moment, all the morals and standards that he had set up for himself boiled down into nothing. He planted his ear against the hole and listened as close as he could, he didn't want to miss a thing.

_Wow, desperate are we?_

_Shut up!_

"Well, I'm not sure what to say." Yoko seemed rather nervous about the subject.

_What could that mean?_

"Oh come on, he's been pretty gutsy thus far." Crystal seemed to be urging her on.

_Thank you!_

"Yeah, I know, but that doesn't really appeal to me." The sniper seemed to be tossing thoughts about in her mind.

"Oh? What appeals to you?"

"Someone who is compassionate." Yoko stated simply.

"And?" Crystal pushed further.

_I am so glad you're on the team! If I ever get bacon again, you can have it all! _Simon wept tears of joy.

"Someone who can be a leader but knows when to be a follower. Someone who will be there for me no matter what and comfort me when I need it." Simon continued to nod as she listed things off.

_Yes!_ He quickly filled in the hole, he had already gotten enough information from that and he didn't want to risk being caught.

The conversation quickly died down as the wind picked up and Simon sunk back into the water with a silly expression on his face. Kamina had climbed to the tallest tree and was trying to gaze over the wall, but it seemed to be to no avail.

"Gimi, come over here and we'll get you cleaned up!" He could hear the girls shout form the other side.

The small red headed boy quickly upped from the boy's bath and ran to the girl's; Simon couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm.

"Did you see anything Simon?" He could hear his brother speak from the tree.

The digger shook his head in contentment, "Nope, not a thing." _But I heard plenty._

_Lets be glad we weren't caught._

Simon nodded in agreement, shooting a little spout of water up with his fingers. _Yup_.

* * *

It didn't take long before the silence crept in, something wasn't right. This feeling that resided deep within his stomach made him nervous.

"Hey Kamina, maybe we should get out."

But Kamina didn't answer.

Simon looked up to the tree and saw that his bro was gone. _What the hell?_

_I don't know, but we need to get out of here._

_Yeah, I need to get to Lagann._

The digger quickly grabbed a towel and rushed out from the bathhouse using one of the side gates, he could hear gears clanking and steel start to move about. The bathhouse began to change.

"You can run human, but you won't be able to hide!" He could hear the woman from before shout as her new gunman took form.

_Aww, shit!_

* * *

**A/N: Clocking in at 3,061 words, plus the A/N, I am now done with this chapter!**

**First things first! Happy early Valentines Day everyone! Even if you are single, like I am, it still gives us something to celebrate about and allows us to think about that special someone! I am extremely thankful that you all are so patient with my since things have been a little hectic with school and all and trying to find a job!**

**I just wanted to say that I love each and every one of you as though you were my brother or sister! It is great to know that there is such a large amount of support for this story and 10,000 views? Just wow! I can't believe it! Every follow, favorite, and or review on this story just encourages me more and reminds me to never forget!**

**Anyway, I ramble a lot, but thank you once again! I hope the longer chapter has been quite a treat and I also hope you leave some feedback for meh! :D**


	13. Chapter 12b: Perspective

**A/N: Enjoy a little bit of filler before you move onto the main event!**

* * *

Yoko quietly followed the other girls out into the hot springs, they were ecstatic about the water and having the ability to clean themselves after so long.

She had taken the pins out of her hair and let it fall down past her shoulders; it would be easier to clean this way. The sniper eased down into the water and sighed as the steam and warmth encapsulated her, it was a welcome feeling.

A smile broke out across her face when she remembered Kamina's face as the owner of the bathhouse told him that the spring was separated by gender, he didn't seem too happy about it.

The Black Siblings, Tara, and Crystal were all splashing about while she and Dari simply sat and watched, washing themselves in the process. It surprised her that they got along so well since they were strangers to one another, maybe it was just chemical.

* * *

As the whacky group of girls calmed down they began to mess with one another about their sizes, weight, and whatnot. None of this really interested Yoko.

Kiyoh gaped at Crystal as she admired her body, "Wow Crystal, you look amazing!" Thus making the recipient blush.

"What? What're you talking about?" She covered herself partially.

Kiyoh scoffed, "They're just so round!"

Crystal then cowered under the water and moved away.

Tara quickly picked up the slack, "Yeah, well yours are super perky!"

Kiyoh winked in return.

_What a bunch of nimrods, talking about this…_

"Look at Yoko's!" _Wait, what?_

"I'm surprised she can walk around the way she does all day without being embarrassed. They're so perfect!"

The sniper looked up only to see the entire group staring at her chest.

"What the hell you guys! You're almost as bad as the boys are!" She covered herself up and moved away from the others.

Tara slowly followed, "Oh come on, just one quick feel?" The girl had a strange expression on her face.

"No!"

Tara then threw her hands up wildly and shrugged, "I guess I better give up, but you best watch your back!" She smiled cheekily.

* * *

Once things returned to normal and Crystal rejoined the group, they engaged in small talk here and there until the subject came to the men of the group.

"So, what do you think of that Simon boy?" Crystal spoke casually.

Kinon messed with the water a bit, "I don't know, he's pretty sweet."

Tara nodded, "He's not as brave as his brother, but he still has some guts."

"What do you think Yoko?"

The redhead has phased out for a minute and perked up at the mention of her name.

"Sorry, what?"

Crystal motioned towards the wall, "Simon, what do you think of him?"

Yoko could feel her face heat up slightly, "Well, I'm not sure what to say." Her stomach felt a little queasy.

Crystal didn't relent, "Oh come on, he's been pretty gutsy thus far."

The sniper nodded slightly, "Yeah, I know, but that doesn't really appeal to me." _Anyone can be cocky and Kamina is proof of that._

Crystal seemed a little surprised by this, "Oh? What does appeal to you?"

Yoko lowered herself into the water more, "Someone who is compassionate." _True._

"And?"

She twiddled her thumbs under the surface, her voice was far away when she spoke, "Someone who can be a leader, but knows when to be a follower. Someone who will be there for me no matter what and comfort me when I need it the most." _That's any girl's dream, right?_

Her words must've worked, because everyone else was nodding in agreement after she finished.

* * *

"Gimi, come over here and we'll get you cleaned up!" Tara shouted over the wall to the redheaded boy on the other side.

It wasn't long before he came running and plunged into their bath, quickly being overwhelmed by shampoos and other products, but he didn't seem to mind.

Yoko was staring up at the stars and the moon. _What a beautiful night._ She smiled and sighed, this was the first time since the cave that she was truly able to relax and unwind.

She could hear the girls giggling as they cleaned Gimi and it almost felt like home back in Littner. They had come so far in such a short amount of time, but even then it felt like it had been an eternity since she was in her home. These feelings twisted her heart, she couldn't help that she was homesick, everyone has similar thoughts or behaviors when leaving house. _But not Simon, or Kamina for that matter._

Those two were more than willing to leave their underground village and stumble into a new and exciting world, neither of them batted an eye when they met turmoil and combat as soon as they left, the two almost reveled in it.

_I have got to be stronger, for them._ A short nod followed.

* * *

Something clanged into place beside the sniper and drew her back into reality, the sound of bars closing and locking.

She looked around only to see a steel cage quickly take them in and raise them high into the air.

_You have got to be kidding me!_

* * *

**A/N: Short fluff and stuff before Chapter 13! Hope you enjoyed!**


	14. Chapter 13: Challenger

**A/N: Thank you for being patient! More at the end of the chapter!**

* * *

_Shit! Shit! Shit! _Simon was running like a madman as he dodged large jets of boiling hot water with nothing but a towel protecting him. He had barely gotten a glimpse at the machine before it started firing on him. A large monitor displayed Kittan, the other Black Siblings, Leeron, Yoko, Tara, Crystal, Gimi, and Dari all in cages, shouting out at the beastmen and cursing it.

_Just keep running! Just keep running!_ His mind shouted at him.

_Where the hell is Lagann?_ Simon dived into the trees in search for his small gunman, trying to remember where he placed it so as to not avoid capture by someone or something.

He grunted in relief as he saw his friend sitting behind a large oak on standby, ready to launch.

The digger thrust the drill into Lagann and twisted. The small machine lit with life and flew off from the ground, gaining distance between itself and the bathhouse gunman.

"Lagann, can you find a weakness?" Simon wasn't entirely sure his gunman had a scanning ability.

"No obvious sign of fault in the infrastructure detected." Lagann replied in a deep monotone.

He sighed, "Great, just great."

Simon sent Lagann rocketing towards the mountain making the bathhouse give chase to them. This wolf woman was hungry.

"Aren't you going to save your friends human? Or are you just leaving them to die?" The female beastman sneered at him.

_Are you kidding me?!_ Simon could feel his pride being wounded as she spoke. _I'm going to kill that creature!_

* * *

The chase continued on for well over a half hour, but the bathhouse was unable to gain on the tiny gunman. _I need to find a way to destroy it without hurting Yoko and the others._

"Keep running, human, it'll only be sweeter for me when I catch you!" The bathhouse began to grab for Simon, its hands falling a few meters behind the speeding gunman.

"Simon, might I advise a strategic drilling through the core of the bathhouse? Taking out essential components within the machine will bring it down." Lagann had been silent for a good while.

He looked behind him to the bathhouse; its belly was wide open to an attack, "Good idea, Lagann."

A drill erupted from Lagann's forehead as Simon brought him around. He pushed the thrusters as far as possible and slammed into the stomach of the enemy gunman, dodging its massive hands. It tore through layers of armor and machinery, eventually launching out the other side.

The digger, wasting no time, destroyed the joint connecting the hand that held Yoko and the others to the bathhouse, sending them falling down towards the ground.

_Bad plan! _Lagann gave chase to the falling cage and reached out attempting to catch the ring at the top of the prison.

"Gotcha!" A large metal hand caught the cage as an overly excited voice rang out across the valley. It was Kamina.

Gurren turned on the bathhouse, after laying down the others, and charged straight at the damaged gunman.

"Good job Simon! Sorry it took us a bit!" A stark naked Kamina gave the digger an encouraging smile, with Rossiu sitting close with a rather awkward expression.

Gurren leaped to the top of the machine and began to pound down, causing the damage to spread. It didn't take very long for the bathhouse to buckle and fall.

"And that's what you get for messing with Team Gurren!" Kamina shouted from atop the burning wreckage.

"You blockhead! What were you two doing! Simon almost got captured as well while you two were dicking about!" It hadn't taken Yoko very long to get out of the cage and was now pointing an accusing finger up towards Gurren.

"Gurren had been stolen by those rabbit beastmen! I got here as soon as I could Thunder Thighs!" Kamina crossed his arms indignantly.

Simon sighed as the two bickered, _another close call, they are getting way too frequent._

They quickly ran back down the mountain with the cage in tow and retrieved the other mechas with Kamina being forced by Kittan to turn away while his sisters and the other girls got dressed.

"Put some pants on, you bozo!" The yellow haired brother yelled.

"A man can do damn well what he pleases in this wasteland!"

Kittan clinched a fist, "You take one peak at my sisters and your eyes'll be history."

_Making friends wherever we go, that the way Team Gurren roles._ Simon chuckled inside Lagann; he kept an extra shirt and jacket in the cockpit and quickly put them on.

_If there was a beastman installation this far out, who knows if they sent out a distress signal before we destroyed them._ The digger rubbed his chin in contemplation as he looked towards the horizon.

"Is everyone alright?" Simon couldn't help but feel concern for his comrades, that fall could have jostled them pretty bad.

Tara stretched, "I think we're fine, no worries Simon."

"I think we need to get moving soon, that beastman could have sent out a call for anyone in the area to come and turn us into paste." The worry that was in his stomach confirmed this.

Yoko had already jumped into Saidden, "He's right, lets get moving."

"Projectile inbound, projectile inbound!"

A speeding cannon round was barreling towards them from the sunrise, barely missing Gurren and the team that was standing under him. The blast shook the area close to them.

A dark figure loomed close by, casting a shadow down onto them, "It's been a while, you naked apes."

* * *

**A/N: So cliché! What a horrible place to stop, but I swear if I had to rewrite this bloody chapter one more time I was ready to blow my brains out! I am extremely sorry about the wait time and I promise that I hadn't intended to wait so long, but with a new experience of juggling school and work everything has been a hassle! **

**That is no excuse, however and I apologize profusely once again!**

**I had placed myself in such a deep hole in regards to the bathhouse ark of the original story; I had no idea what to do, so I hope you will forgive the inconsistencies.**

**I know Kamina didn't sacrifice control of Gurren in order to get a peak of the girls in this chapter, it just wasn't fitting and this was hard enough to wrangle in as it is, so I encourage you just watch that portion of the anime again for the laughs it provides!**

**Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the continued support, I hadn't forgotten about this story I swear on high, but it was just bogging me down so much and life can be a huge drag when it wants to be!**

**Anyway! I hope to get the next chapter up in somewhat normal time and I apologize again for how short this one is and how awkward it was! Thank you!**

**P.S: I plan on making the next chapter around 3,000 – 4,000 words in order to make up for the lack of content over the past few months!**


	15. Notice

Hey all, or whoever is reading right now! I'm sorry this isn't another update to the story and I come bearing bad news. Until I truly figure out where this story is going and take a look at how I'm going to develop it and not fly by the seat of my pants The Heavens Will Be Shattered will be entering a hiatus, I want to assure you that this isn't forever, as a matter of fact I want to stress this.

I really don't know what I've been doing thus far with this and really have gone with whatever I thought best without much reasoning to what would come next, which led to frustration on my end. I knew what the end product was going to be and even developed the later part of the story very thoroughly, so that isn't the issue, it's the buildup and exposition that comes beforehand!

I hope this doesn't anger you as the reader, because I really appreciated your support thus far, I just don't really know what to do at this point. I hope to get this fic back on track as soon as possible; I just don't know how soon that'll be.

My sincerest apologies,

Trainkrazy


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